Two Detained Including Bae Sang-yoon, KH Group Chairman's Chief Vice Chairman for Assisting Escape... Two Others Dismissed

Woo Mo, KH Executive Vice Chairman, who is accused of assisting KH Group Chairman Bae Sang-yoon's 'overseas escape,' is attending the pre-arrest detention hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 26th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Woo, the KH Group Executive Vice Chairman, who is suspected of assisting KH Group Chairman Bae Sang-yoon's 'overseas escape,' was arrested on the 26th.

Lee Min-soo, the judge in charge of the warrant review at the Seoul Central District Court, who handled the detention hearings for Woo, his executive team leader Lee, and two local Vietnamese corporation officials, issued arrest warrants for Woo and Lee at around 10:30 p.m. on the same day, citing concerns over evidence tampering. The warrants were issued on charges of aiding a fugitive and habitual gambling facilitation.

However, the judge dismissed the arrest warrants for the other two individuals.

The presiding judge explained the dismissal, stating, "The suspects have admitted to all the crimes, and a significant amount of evidence related to the crimes has already been secured. Considering the circumstances under which the suspects became involved, the fact that a substantial portion of the victim's financial losses has been recovered, and that the suspects voluntarily returned from Vietnam to cooperate with the investigation, along with various factors in the investigation records and statements from the suspects and their lawyers, it is difficult to see a risk of evidence destruction or flight beyond the scope of exercising their right to defense. Therefore, at this stage, it is hard to recognize the grounds and necessity for detention."

Woo, who appeared at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-dong, Seoul, at 10:16 a.m. for the warrant review, did not respond to any questions from reporters related to Chairman Bae, such as 'Did you assist Chairman Bae's luxurious escape?', 'Is it true that you embezzled hundreds of billions of won of company funds and squandered them on gambling?', and 'Where is Chairman Bae currently staying?', and proceeded directly to the courtroom.

Earlier, on the 23rd, the Violent Crime Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Shin Jun-ho) requested arrest warrants for Woo and three others on charges of aiding a fugitive and habitual gambling facilitation.

At the time of requesting the arrest warrants, the prosecution stated that it was confirmed that Chairman Bae has been continuing his 'emperor-like escape' overseas with the organized protection and assistance of Woo and other company executives.

Chairman Bae is suspected of causing damage worth 400 billion won to affiliates to raise funds for acquiring the Pyeongchang Alpensia Resort and embezzling about 65 billion won from affiliate funds.

The prosecution obtained an arrest warrant for Chairman Bae, who left the country last year for business reasons and has not returned, issued an Interpol Red Notice, and invalidated his passport through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.