Prosecutors Refile Arrest Warrants for Kakao Entertainment's Kim Seongsu and Lee Junho

The prosecution has refiled arrest warrants for Kim Seong-su, CEO of Kakao Entertainment, and Lee Junho, head of the investment strategy division, who are accused of inflating the acquisition price and causing damage to the company during the acquisition process of the drama production company Baram Pictures.

On the 19th, the Financial Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kwon Chan-hyuk) refiled arrest warrants against CEO Kim and Division Head Lee on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (breach of trust) and the Act on the Regulation and Punishment of Criminal Proceeds Concealment.

They are suspected of causing damage to the company by inflating the acquisition price through methods such as falsifying the corporate valuation report during the 2020 acquisition of the drama production company Baram Pictures. There are allegations that Kakao M (the predecessor of Kakao Entertainment) purchased and increased capital in a company with a capital of 100 million won that had been operating at a loss for years at a price higher than the market value.

The prosecution suspects that Division Head Lee, who was in charge of Kakao M's business operations division at the time of the acquisition, conspired with CEO Kim to divert capital gains to Baram Pictures, in which his wife, actress Yoon Jeong-hee, had invested.

Earlier in January, the prosecution filed arrest warrants against them, but the court dismissed them, stating that "it is difficult to see a risk of evidence destruction or flight."