[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon]The relative of a current Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) employee, who was arrested on charges of purchasing land using undisclosed information obtained while working in the Gwangmyeong-Siheung new town project department, has also been detained.
On the 23rd, Judge Cho Hyung-woo, head of the warrant division at the Ansan branch of Suwon District Court, issued an arrest warrant for B, a relative of LH employee A, on charges of violating the Act on the Prevention of Corruption and the Establishment and Operation of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.
Judge Cho stated the reason for issuing the warrant, saying, "The criminal charges have been substantiated, and there is concern about evidence destruction and flight risk."
B is suspected of purchasing four parcels of land totaling approximately 17,000 square meters in the Noonsadong area of Gwangmyeong in March 2017, under the names of acquaintances along with A and others, for about 2.5 billion won. The current market value of the land is reported to be as high as 10.2 billion won.
A was assigned to the Gwangmyeong-Siheung project headquarters in early 2017 and was understood to be responsible for overall urban development tasks, including selecting development areas in the Gwangmyeong-Siheung region at the time of the land purchase. He worked there for about three years before transferring to another headquarters early last year.
The land they purchased was designated as a public housing district in 2010 but development was halted due to LH's financial difficulties. After the district designation was lifted in 2015, it was managed as a special management area until it was selected as a 3rd phase new town in February this year.
Earlier, the police arrested A and two acquaintances who purchased the land with B, and applied for pre-indictment seizure preservation to prevent them from disposing of the disputed land before a final verdict. The court approved this request.
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