[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Kim Mo (46), a former Blue House administrator suspected of being involved in the Lime Asset Management redemption suspension incident, was arrested on the 18th.
Seoul Southern District Court Judge Lee Seung-won issued an arrest warrant for Kim, who was charged by the prosecution with bribery and disclosure of official secrets under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. The judge reportedly stated that the warrant was issued after the pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant review) due to concerns that evidence might be destroyed and a risk of flight.
Kim is accused of receiving bribes worth approximately 49 million KRW from Kim Bong-hyun, chairman of Star Mobility, in exchange for providing official information and convenience, and leaking internal information related to the Financial Supervisory Service’s inspection of Lime Asset Management. The total estimated damage from the Lime incident is around 1.6 trillion KRW.
Kim, a former Financial Supervisory Service official, was dispatched to work as an administrator in the Blue House Economic Secretariat for one year starting February last year and is suspected of being involved in covering up the Lime incident. After returning to the Financial Supervisory Service, he was deemed unable to perform his duties normally and was dismissed from his position at the end of last month.
Both Kim and Chairman Kim are understood to have had a close relationship with former Lime Vice President Lee Jong-pil. It is reported that Chairman Kim introduced Kim to former Vice President Lee. Chairman Kim also appointed Kim’s younger brother as an outside director of Star Mobility in July last year.
Kim did not respond to reporters’ questions such as “Do you admit to the bribery charges?”, “Is it true that you leaked internal information of the Financial Supervisory Service to Chairman Kim Bong-hyun?”, and “Do you have anything to say to Lime investors?” when he appeared for the warrant review hearing in the afternoon.
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