Prosecutors Request Arrest Warrant for Kim Man-bae... Kim Claims "Violation of Suspect's Right to Defense" (Comprehensive)

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[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] On the 12th, the prosecution filed a pre-arrest warrant against Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu and a key figure in the Daejang-dong development lobbying and preferential treatment allegations. Kim's side immediately expressed concern, stating that it "seriously infringes on the suspect's right to defense."

The dedicated investigation team of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office filed the pre-arrest warrant against Kim in the afternoon on charges including bribery. The investigation team believes that Kim promised to pay a large sum as a reward for receiving preferential treatment during the project from Yoo Dong-gyu, former head of the Planning Department at Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, and handed over 500 million won earlier this year.

In particular, the recording submitted to the investigation team by accountant Jeong Young-hak, owner of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 5, reportedly contains content that Kim's side agreed to give 25% of the development profits to former head Yoo, and that Yoo demanded 70 billion won as the real estate market improved.

Accordingly, the investigation team summoned Kim the day before to investigate the raised allegations. After the investigation, Kim met with reporters and regarding the controversy over the actual owner of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 1, he stated, "Without a doubt, it belongs to Hwacheon Daeyu," and added, "Hwacheon Daeyu is my personal company." However, regarding his remark that "half of the shares of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 1 belong to that person," he explained, "From my standpoint, I said that to prevent further conflicts among former business operators from spreading."

Kim's side expressed strong regret over the investigation team's filing of the pre-arrest warrant, saying, "We strongly regret the sudden filing of the arrest warrant just one day after the investigation." They continued, "We cannot help but be seriously concerned that the arrest warrant was filed mainly based on the recording of Jeong Young-hak, one of the business partners who is in a dispute over project cost settlement, and whose credibility is questionable as it was secretly recorded by Jeong Young-hak." They emphasized, "Conducting the investigation without presenting the recording or playing the audio seriously infringes on the suspect's legally guaranteed right to defense."

Meanwhile, the pre-arrest detention hearing for Kim will be held at the Seoul Central District Court on the 14th at 10:30 a.m., presided over by Judge Moon Seong-gwan, who is in charge of warrants.

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