The prosecution investigating the fund investment misconduct at Saemaeul Geumgo arrested Ryu Hyuk, CEO of Saemaeul Geumgo Central Credit Guarantee (age 60), on the 5th.
The Criminal Division 6 of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Seo Hyun-wook) obtained an arrest warrant from the court on the same day and took Ryu into custody.
The prosecution is reportedly looking into allegations that CEO Ryu gave preferential treatment for fund investments to a specific asset management company.
Earlier, the prosecution indicted Vice President Choi (age 44) of M Capital (formerly Hyosung Capital), who received a large amount of bribes from asset management company S in exchange for attracting about 300 billion won in Saemaeul Geumgo fund investments, and Deputy General Manager Choi (age 43) of the Corporate Finance Department at Saemaeul Geumgo Central, who executed the actual investment upon request, on the 19th of last month.
Within the industry, there is speculation that such fund investment misconduct may have occurred in multiple places beyond company S. Questions have also been raised about whether a team leader-level employee alone could have led the crime, along with suspicions of involvement from higher-ups.
On the 8th of last month, the prosecution also conducted a search and seizure of Park Cha-hoon (age 66), chairman of Saemaeul Geumgo Central, to verify connections to the corruption. The two individuals indicted and detained, including Vice President Choi, who was formerly Park’s driver, are all known to be close associates of Chairman Park.
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