'Refund Halted' Merge Point Victims "CEO Sued for Fraud Charges"

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] An investigation is expected to intensify regarding the large-scale refund suspension incident involving the prepaid discount service "Merge Point." Users who suffered damages have filed complaints against Merge Plus's CEO and others with the police.

According to the police on the 4th, Kang Dongwon, a lawyer from the law firm Justice representing 148 users, recently filed a complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency against CEO Kwon Namhee (37) and co-founder younger brother Kwon Bogun (34) on charges of fraud.

Lawyer Kang stated, "The total damage amount of the complainants is about 200 million won," adding, "We plan to gather more victims and file additional complaints; currently, about 300 people have joined." The users who filed the complaint with the police also filed a civil lawsuit at the Seoul Central District Court on the 17th, claiming damages of over 200 million won.

Merge Point is a payment service that promoted "unlimited 20% discount." Until recently, it had one million users. It was reported that transactions worth 30 to 40 billion won occurred monthly. On the 11th of last month, when Merge Plus suddenly announced the suspension of point sales and reduction of usage locations, a controversy over "Muk-twi" (running away with money) arose, leading to a flood of refund demands from users.

As the controversy spread, the Financial Supervisory Service requested an investigation by the police, and the Financial Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency booked CEO Kwon, Mr. Kwon, and Director Kwon Kanghyun (64) (former Executive Vice President of Samsung Electronics) on charges of violating the Electronic Financial Transactions Act and imposed a travel ban.

The police conducted raids on five locations, including Merge Plus headquarters in Yeongdeungpo-gu and payment agencies, securing related materials.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.