Former chairman Kim Seong-tae, who fled abroad while being investigated for various corruption allegations of the Ssangbangwool Group, was arrested in Thailand.
According to the legal community on the 10th, former Chairman Kim was caught by the local police at a golf course in Thailand around 7:30 pm on the same day.
While fleeing abroad, he is known to have been arrested while going to a golf course with his acquaintances.
Known as a former gangster, former Chairman Kim is a key figure in various corruption allegations of the Ssangbangwool Group, which is currently being investigated by the Suwon District Prosecutor’s Office.
The Suwon District Prosecutor’s Office is investigating allegations of △ breach of trust and embezzlement △ violation of the Capital Markets Act, such as false disclosure related to convertible bonds, △ remittance to North Korea, and △ the payment of attorney fees by Lee Jae-myeong, CEO of the Democratic Party.
Former chairman Kim, who had previously departed for Singapore at the end of May of last year ahead of the search and seizure by the prosecution, later moved to Thailand and continued his life on the run for nearly eight months.
Prosecutors have been focusing on securing new recruits, including placing an Interpol red notice on former chairman Kim and invalidating his passport, while freezing stocks worth tens of billions of won held by former chairman Kim under borrowed names from being arbitrarily disposed of.
Former Chairman Kim has to go through the process of being deported from Thailand due to invalidation of his passport. If he files a lawsuit denying extradition, it will take some time before he enters the country.
Mr. Kim, who was arrested in Thailand in early December of last year, and the head of Ssangbangwool Group’s financial headquarters, known as the ‘safekeeper’ of former chairman Kim, also filed a lawsuit to deny extradition to the Thai court immediately following the arrest, and the lawsuit is currently underway.
When former chairman Kim is extradited to Korea and the investigation begins, the prosecution’s related investigation, which has been ongoing for more than a year, is expected to gain momentum.
Lee Bo-bae, Hankyung.com guest reporter [email protected]