[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The court has frozen approximately 80 billion KRW of assets belonging to private developers involved in the Daejang-dong project.
According to the legal community on the 1st, the Seoul Central District Court recently accepted the prosecution's request for 'pre-indictment seizure' on the properties of Nam Wook, Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, and accountant Jung Young-hak.
Pre-indictment seizure is a procedure to freeze suspected proceeds obtained through crimes before the suspects are indicted. The request included real estate owned by them. With the court's decision on the seizure, Nam and others are prohibited from disposing of the related assets arbitrarily until a final court ruling on the case is issued. Former Seongnam Urban Development Corporation Planning Director Yoo Dong-gyu was excluded from the seizure request as he was found to have no assets.
The prosecution charged Nam, Kim, and others last year with breach of trust, alleging that they conspired with former Director Yoo to receive massive profits from the Daejang-dong project, causing losses to the corporation. Subsequently, the prosecution added charges, investigating their actions as violations of the former Anti-Corruption Act.
The former Anti-Corruption Act prohibits public officials from obtaining or enabling third parties to obtain financial benefits by using confidential information acquired during their duties. Profits obtained from this crime can be confiscated or seized.
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