Prosecutors Request Arrest Warrant for Saemaeul Geumgo Employee Over Illegal Loan Fee Payments

An arrest warrant has been requested for a Saemaeul Geumgo employee suspected of illegally paying fees related to real estate project financing (PF) loans.

On the 30th, the Criminal Division 6 of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Seo Hyun-wook) announced that it had requested an arrest warrant for a Saemaeul Geumgo employee, Mr. Noh, who is suspected of breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. The pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant hearing) for Mr. Noh was held on the same day at the Seoul Eastern District Court.

Mr. Noh, who was in charge of the real estate PF lending consortium, is suspected of illegally paying fees to consulting firms established under the names of family members and acquaintances of current and former employees of the Saemaeul Geumgo Central Association and its branches. The fees were generated during the execution of an 80 billion KRW PF loan for the development of the Baekseok area in Cheonan, which was conducted in April last year under the sponsorship of Korea Investment & Securities. The fees that the Saemaeul Geumgo lending consortium was supposed to receive were diverted to the consulting firms. It is known that Mr. Noh paid approximately 880 million KRW to the consulting firms under the name of consulting fees.

It is also reported that the consulting firms received about 2.6 billion KRW in loan fees through a total of four cases, including areas such as Asan in Cheonan, Garak in Songpa, and Haksan in Pohang, in addition to the Baekseok area in Cheonan.

The prosecution reportedly conducted a search and seizure on the 28th at a total of eight locations, including the Saemaeul Geumgo Central Association and branches in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and secured materials related to real estate PF loans.