'Bribery Allegations' Park Cha-hoon, Saemaeul Geumgo Chairman, Arrest Warrant Denied Again

17th: Hearing on Warrant for Bribery Charges
Park "There Are Misunderstandings"

The arrest warrant for Park Cha-hoon (66), chairman of the Saemaeul Geumgo Central Association, who is accused of receiving more than 100 million won in bribes during fund investments and project financing (PF) loans, was once again dismissed.

On the 17th, Chief Judge Hong Ki-chan of the Seoul Eastern District Court dismissed the arrest warrant requested by the prosecution after conducting a pre-arrest interrogation of Chairman Park in the afternoon.

Park Cha-hoon, Chairman of the National Credit Union Federation of Korea, is entering the Seoul Eastern District Court on the afternoon of the 17th to undergo a pre-arrest detention hearing.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

At around 2:13 p.m. that day, upon arriving at the Seoul Eastern District Court for the warrant hearing, Chairman Park responded to questions such as "Do you admit to receiving more than 100 million won in bribes in exchange for fund investments?", "Do you admit to receiving a golden seal and tens of millions of won from employees?", and "Do you admit to the charge of having legal fees paid on your behalf?" by saying, "There are misunderstandings."

The Criminal Division 6 of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Seo Hyun-wook) re-requested the arrest warrant on the 14th, just one week after the initial dismissal. The prosecution stated the reasons for the re-request, citing "supplementary investigations conducted, the seriousness of the case, significant risk of evidence destruction, and consideration of fairness with other cases."

The Criminal Division 6 of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Seo Hyun-wook), which has been investigating corruption allegations at Saemaeul Geumgo, viewed that the asset management company Ice Tum Partners, which was suspected of preferential treatment, handed over more than 100 million won in bribes to Chairman Park. It is alleged that Yoo Young-seok, former CEO of Ice Tum Partners, delivered money and valuables to Chairman Park through Ryu Hyuk, CEO of Saemaeul Geumgo Central Association’s Credit Guarantee.

The prosecution detected signs of Chairman Park receiving bribes and summoned him as a suspect on the 3rd, then requested an arrest warrant the following day. However, the court dismissed the warrant on the 8th, stating, "There is a need to guarantee the right to defense, and it is difficult to see a flight risk."

The prosecution called Chairman Park again on the 14th for supplementary investigation and requested an arrest warrant again the next day on charges of bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

The prosecution argued that Chairman Park first demanded bribes and attempted to destroy evidence by coercing false statements from those involved in the case, making detention necessary. However, with the warrant repeatedly dismissed, it is increasingly likely that the investigation will conclude with an indictment without detention.

Meanwhile, Chairman Park is currently on trial for allegedly distributing bribes to win the central chairmanship in 2018 (violation of the Saemaeul Geumgo Act), amid suspicions that a private equity fund which received a large investment from Saemaeul Geumgo paid approximately 50 million won in legal fees on his behalf at that time.

Additionally, Chairman Park is suspected of receiving the so-called "golden seal" from employees and tens of millions of won from directors under the pretext of business promotion expenses.

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