Hanseong Lee, co-CEO of Hwacheon Daeyu, and Woohyang Choi, former Vice Chairman of Ssangbangul Group
Suspicion of concealing regarding 26 billion won acquired by Mr. Kim through the Daejang-dong development project
Prosecutors investigating allegations of corruption in the Daejang-dong development project in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, requested arrest warrants on the 15th for two facilitators who were involved in concealing the criminal proceeds of Mr. Man-bae Kim, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office’s Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Eom Hee-joon) requested arrest warrants for Lee Han-seong, co-representative of Hwacheon Daeyu, and Choi Woo-hyang, director of Hwacheon Daeyu, who served as vice chairman of Ssangbangul Group, on charges of concealing Kim’s criminal proceeds.
They are accused of concealing regarding 26 billion won of criminal proceeds acquired by Mr. Kim from the Daejang-dong development project under Mr. Kim’s instructions from October of last year to July of this year. Prosecutors believe that they used methods such as withdrawing and storing money in checks or purchasing real estate under borrowed names through false accounting to avoid collection and seizure by the investigative agency.
Prosecutors arrested them on the 13th and searched around 10 places, including the residences of Mr. Kim, Mr. Lee, and Mr. Choi. The target of the search and seizure also included the Pacific Law Firm, which was in charge of Kim’s defense.
Prosecutors have frozen a total of 80 billion won worth of real estate, such as land and buildings owned by private businessmen in Daejang-dong, including Kim, under borrowed names and deposit return bonds, and have been tracking additional hidden assets. The total amount of compensation (the amount that can be sentenced to additional collection in the future) cited by the court is regarding 444.6 billion won. It is equivalent to the profits earned by Daejang-dong and his crew.
Mr. Lee is a person who served as an aide to Lee Hwa-young, former deputy governor of Gyeonggi-do, who was an aide to Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, when he was a member of the National Assembly. He is said to have joined Hwacheon Daeyu through the introduction of Mr. Kim, an alumnus of Sungkyunkwan University. Mr. Lee is said to have been in charge of Mr. Kim’s bankbook and managed the funds.
Mr. Choi participated in the process of taking over Ssangbangwool in 2010 by former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Seong-tae, who was fleeing abroad, and served as the CEO and vice chairman of Ssangbangwool.
The night before, Mr. Kim made an extreme choice in a car parked on a road near a university in Jangan-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, and was taken to the hospital.
