'Ostem Implant Employee Involved in 198 Billion Won Embezzlement Waives Detention Hearing'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Lee Mo (45), an employee of Osstem Implant who was indicted for embezzling 198 billion won of company funds, did not appear for the pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant substantive examination) on the 8th.

According to the police, Lee voluntarily gave up participating in the warrant substantive examination scheduled to be held at the Seoul Southern District Court from 2 p.m. that day.

This decision appears to be due to the expectation that the possibility of detention is high, as a significant part of the large-scale embezzlement charges has already been proven and he was arrested while in hiding.

With Lee forfeiting the warrant substantive examination, the court will proceed with a hearing to determine detention based on written documents without the presence of the suspect and his attorney.

Lee, who worked as the head of the finance team at Osstem Implant, disappeared on December 30 last year and was apprehended on the 5th of this month at his residence in Paju, Gyeonggi Province.

Lee is accused of embezzling a total of 198 billion won by transferring 5 billion won of company funds to his own account around March last year and then restoring it, among other acts, until the end of that year (embezzlement in the course of business under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes).

The police, considering these circumstances, believe that Lee did not commit the embezzlement impulsively but planned the crime deliberately.

Among the embezzled funds, Lee reportedly traded a large volume of Dongjin Semichem stocks with 143 billion won in October last year, incurring a loss of about 30 billion won upon resale. He also purchased 851 gold bars weighing 1kg each (market value approximately 68 billion won). Of these, 497 bars were seized at the time of Lee’s arrest, but the whereabouts of the remaining 354 bars (about 28 billion won) are unclear.

Furthermore, it was confirmed that Lee purchased real estate worth a total of 7.5 billion won under the names of his wife and sister-in-law as nominees. The police have applied for 'pre-indictment seizure and confiscation preservation' on these properties and are continuing investigations to determine if there are accomplices.

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