Prosecutors Who Gave Up Lunar New Year Holiday, All-Out Investigation into Kim Seong-tae

Former chairman Kim Seong-tae, the real owner of Ssangbangwool Group, who was arrested in Thailand while living as a fugitive abroad, is being escorted through Incheon International Airport on the morning of the 17th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution has devoted the Lunar New Year holiday to investigating former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Seong-tae, who was arrested on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust, focusing on proving the allegations.

According to the legal community on the 24th, the Criminal Division 6 of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-nam) dedicated itself to investigation work during the Lunar New Year holiday. On the 21st, they summoned former Chairman Kim, who is detained at Suwon Detention Center, to question him about suspicious cash flows within the group and the creation of slush funds. It is reported that Kim did not refuse to testify and is actively denying the charges.

The prosecution is striving to gather all evidence and testimonies to prove all charges against former Chairman Kim before indicting him. In particular, the prosecution is closely examining the flow of funds related to Ssangbangwool Group’s issuance and sale of convertible bonds and plans to clarify the source and reasons for the $5 million (approximately 6 billion KRW) transferred twice to the North in 2019 by Kim.

Former Chairman Kim was arrested on charges including embezzlement and breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, violations of the Capital Markets Act, Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, bribery, and obstruction of justice by destroying evidence. The cases include breach of trust and embezzlement amounting to about 450 billion KRW, false disclosure of 20 billion KRW convertible bonds violating the Capital Markets Act, $6.4 million remittance to North Korea, bribery of 300 million KRW to former Gyeonggi Province Vice Governor Lee Hwa-young, obstruction of justice, and allegations of paying legal fees for Representative Lee Jae-myung.

The arrest warrant application submitted by the prosecution to the court is over 50 pages long, reflecting the numerous and complex charges against former Chairman Kim. Many related parties are involved, so summons and investigations of these individuals are likely to proceed swiftly. The maximum investigation period before the prosecution indicts Kim is 20 days.

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