[속보]’Ssangbangwool Group Corruption’ former chairman Kim Seong-tae arrested… “Concerns about escape and destruction of evidence”

Former chairman Kim Seong-tae was arrested on the 20th on charges of embezzling tens of billions of won of Ssangbangwool Group’s company money and delivering dollars to North Korea.

On this day, Kim Kyung-rok, a judge in charge of warrants at the Suwon District Court, issued arrest warrants for former chairman Kim and current chairman Yang Seon-gil on charges of violating the Act on Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (embezzlement). Judge Kim explained the reason for issuing the warrant, saying, “The criminal charges have been clarified and there is a risk of destruction of evidence and escape.”

On the morning of the 19th, the previous day, former chairman Kim submitted a waiver of warrant examination to the prosecution. Former chairman Kim’s lawyer explained, “It means that we sincerely participate in the investigation and reflect rather than arguing over whether or not to be arrested.”

As both the lawyers and prosecutors for former Chairman Kim and others expressed their intention not to attend, the warrant review for former Chairman Kim and others did not proceed. The court decided whether to issue a warrant after reviewing only the records submitted by the prosecution without going through the suspect interrogation process.

The request for an arrest warrant for former chairman Kim is known to be about 50 pages long. It is said that the warrant included information that former Chairman Kim delivered 5 million dollars to a North Korean figure. In addition, charges of stealing tens of billions of won from the company (embezzlement), breach of trust worth 450 billion won, such as unfair support for an unlisted company, charges of providing 300 million won in bribes to former vice-governor of peace in Gyeonggi-do Lee Hwa-young, and as the prosecution investigation began in earnest, employees were asked to change PCs, etc. He was charged with destroying evidence. However, the suspicion that Lee Jae-myeong, the representative of the Democratic Party, paid the lawyer’s fees was not included.

The prosecution conducted an intense investigation over two days against former chairman Kim, who entered the country on the 17th. At the same time as former Chairman Kim entered the country, he appointed Attorney Jae-Man Yoo, a former prosecutor who belongs to the Law Firm Square.

Prosecutors are known to have questioned former chairman Kim on all charges, including allegations of embezzlement and breach of trust, bribery, remittance to North Korea, and payment of attorney fees. It is known that former chairman Kim denied the allegations to the effect that “there is no fact that he personally embezzled money from the company” without refusing to make a statement or exercising the right to remain silent.

Former chairman Kim was arrested at a golf course in Thailand on the 10th after continuing his life on the run for eight months after leaving the country in May of last year.

Former Chairman Kim and his aides who fled abroad are also being arrested one after another. Previously, former chairman Kim fled abroad with five people, including Chairman Yang, former head of finance and economy, Mr. A, assistant secretary B, and his nephew and assistant secretary C.

Among them, former chairman Yang was caught at the scene at the time of former chairman Kim’s arrest, and Mr. A was caught in December of last year and is in the process of a lawsuit against repatriation in the field. Mr. B fled to Cambodia on the 18th and was caught by the local police. Prosecutors and Thai authorities are currently pursuing Mr. C.