'Line Momtong' Kim Younghong Material Identification 'Countdown'... Funding Executives Arrested One After Another

Key Executives of Isla Resort Successively Detained
Investigation Accelerates on Chairman Kim's Whereabouts After Escape Funds Cut Off

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] The investigation by prosecutors and police into Kim Young-hong, chairman of Metropolitan and identified as the ‘mastermind’ behind the Lime Asset Management scandal involving a redemption suspension of around 1.6 trillion won, is gaining momentum. As his closest aides are being arrested one after another, it is expected that Kim’s whereabouts will soon be determined.

On the 5th, the Cyber Crime Investigation Unit of Gangwon Provincial Police Agency announced that Choi was detained and sent to prosecution on charges of operating a gambling space. Choi is reported to have been the mastermind behind the illegal ‘Avatar Casino’ inside Isla Resort in Cebu, Philippines, known as the source of Kim’s escape funds. The ‘Avatar Casino’ is a remote gambling system that provides users with login IDs and passwords and informs them of the account to transfer funds.

Choi is confirmed to be the person who practically operated the casino, which is said to have recently reopened, and is also a shareholder of Mactan Isla Resort & Spa Corporation. Besides this case, he has been reported to the Gangnam Police Station in Seoul for aiding and abetting a criminal and to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office for evading compulsory execution. Choi was arrested after returning to Korea last month, having evaded police pursuit in the Philippines.

Choi is also known to have received daily work closure reports from the casino and is considered the person most recently aware of the source of Kim’s escape funds and the flow of gambling funds. He was also in communication with Jung, who was sentenced to two years in prison by the Seoul Southern District Court for operating a gambling space. Jung was arrested and indicted on charges of operating the Avatar Casino at Isla Resort since December 2018, earning approximately 32 billion won in profits.

Another casino operator, Seok, is also currently on trial at Chuncheon District Court on the same charges. Both Jung and Seok operated the casino before Isla Resort was sold to Kim. Through court battles over various issues including the initial resort establishment process, the 2018 ‘resort shooting incident,’ and illegal casino operations, the exact scale of profits and charges are gradually being revealed. Jung is scheduled to appear as a witness at Seok’s trial this Thursday.

With all the key figures of Isla Resort, Kim’s financial source, now detained, the investigation into Kim’s whereabouts is expected to accelerate. Recently, police are reported to be conducting visitation interviews with Choi, who is currently incarcerated at Chuncheon Detention Center.

The Gangnam Police Station in Seoul also summoned Kim’s relative, Kim, suspected of assisting his escape by delivering profits. After returning to Korea at the end of May and being banned from leaving the country, Kim responded to the summons and reportedly provided a recorded phone call with Kim Young-hong.

Meanwhile, Kim is identified as the ‘real mastermind’ of the Lime scandal, having received the largest investment (350 billion won) from the Lime fund under the pretext of overseas resort and casino businesses. Kim fled overseas in October 2019, just before the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office’s Joint Securities Crime Investigation Team began their investigation. Although there were lobbying suspicions involving senior secretaries of the Moon Jae-in administration’s Blue House and current Democratic Party lawmakers, the investigation did not proceed properly due to Kim’s overseas escape and other factors.

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