Another Rejected Arrest Warrant for 'Discovery' Jang Ha-won... Prosecution Says "Court's Judgment Differs from Prosecution"

The prosecution investigating the Discovery Fund incident expressed regret over the repeated dismissal of the arrest warrant for Jang Ha-won, CEO of Discovery Asset Management.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

A representative from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office told reporters on the 5th, regarding the dismissal of the re-requested arrest warrant for CEO Jang, "After the initial dismissal of the warrant, supplementary investigations were conducted and new evidence was additionally confirmed, leading to the re-request. However, the court's judgment seems to differ from that of the prosecution." The representative refrained from commenting on whether the warrant would be requested again. "We will carefully assess and review the thoroughly proven parts and proceed with appropriate measures. I believe there will be an opportunity to discuss related matters after the disposition," the representative said.

The prosecution re-requested arrest warrants on the 22nd of last month against CEO Jang and former Head of Investment Division Kim on charges including violation of the Capital Markets Act and bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. However, the court dismissed the request, stating, "There are disputes regarding the facts related to the crime and legal evaluation, and there remains room for dispute over whether some violations of the Capital Markets Act were committed and whether the statute of limitations has expired." When the first arrest warrants were requested for the two in September, the court also dismissed them, saying, "Some charges lack sufficient evidence and there is room for legal dispute."

Regarding the suspicion of an overpriced acquisition of the drama production company Baram Pictures by Kakao, currently under investigation by the Financial Investigation Division 2 (Chief Prosecutor Park Geon-young) of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, Lee Junho, then Head of Investment Strategy at Kakao Entertainment (formerly Kakao M), and Kim Seong-su, CEO of Kakao Entertainment, have been registered as suspects. Lee, who was the head of the Business Division at Kakao M at the time of acquisition, is suspected of conspiring with CEO Kim to channel speculative gains to Baram Pictures, in which his wife, actress Yoon Jeong-hee, had invested. Baram Pictures had a capital of 100 million KRW but was acquired by Kakao M in July 2020 for 20 billion KRW. After the acquisition, Kakao M increased the capital by 20 billion KRW. A prosecution official stated, "Ms. Yoon is a witness and has not yet been summoned for investigation by the prosecution."

Meanwhile, the prosecution is currently determining whether certain ongoing coin-related cases qualify as securities. A prosecution official said, "It is difficult to specify a particular coin, but basically, we are keeping open the possibility of indicting virtual asset-related cases under the Capital Markets Act and are reviewing this." The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office is investigating Wemade's WEMIX and Kakao's Klay coin cases.