'Arrest Warrant Requested for MergePlus CEO and Co-Founder over "Refund Suspension"'

The headquarters of 'Merge Point' in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul./Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] Kwon Nam-hee (37), CEO of Merge Plus, the operator of the prepaid discount service 'Merge Point' that caused a large-scale refund suspension incident, and his younger brother and co-founder Kwon Bo-gun (34) have had arrest warrants requested against them.

On the 9th, according to the police, the prosecution filed arrest warrants with the court for the two individuals based on requests from the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Financial Crime Investigation Unit on charges of violating the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, fraud, and embezzlement and breach of trust in business under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. The pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant substantive examination) for the two is expected to be held this afternoon at the Seoul Southern District Court.

CEO Kwon and his brother Kwon are suspected of operating Merge Plus since around February 2018 without registering as prepaid electronic payment instrument issuers as stipulated by the Electronic Financial Transactions Act. They are also accused of recruiting some members through a prepaid method and conducting electronic payment agency business without registering with the authorities.

The police believe the two sold cash-equivalent 'Merge Money' worth several hundred billion won in a so-called 'Ponzi scheme' manner and applied fraud charges. They are also accused of embezzling tens of billions of won from Merge Plus and affiliated corporate funds.