Prosecutors Seek Arrest Warrant for Kim Man-bae over 34 Billion Won Hidden Profits from Daejang-dong

Major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, Kim Man-bae [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution has requested an arrest warrant for Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management (Hwacheon Daeyu), on charges of concealing profits obtained from the Daejang-dong urban development project. Kim is facing arrest again about three months after being released on November 24 last year due to the expiration of his detention period.

The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Eom Hee-jun) filed the arrest warrant request against Kim on the 14th for violating the Act on the Regulation of Concealment of Criminal Proceeds.

According to the prosecution, Kim is accused of withdrawing 34 billion KRW in criminal proceeds related to the Daejang-dong development project between October 2021 and November 2022 in the form of checks and hiding them in a nominee officetel and a rented safe deposit box. He is also charged with instructing his close aide Park to hide physical checks worth approximately 14.2 billion KRW, which are evidence of the concealment of criminal proceeds, in preparation for enforcement following a court's seizure preservation order in December last year (evidence concealment instruction). Additionally, he is accused of instructing his close aide Kim and others around September 2021 to burn his mobile phone containing evidence related to the Daejang-dong case (evidence destruction instruction).