The prosecution has moved to secure the custody of former executives and employees of Meritz Securities in connection with allegations of loan brokerage arising during the acquisition of real estate using real estate PF information.
The Tax Crime Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Park Hyun-gyu) on the 22nd requested arrest warrants for three individuals, including former Meritz Securities executive Park and former employees Kim and Lee, who are accused of bribery and mediation under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.
According to the prosecution, Park is suspected of acquiring real estate using job-related real estate project financing (PF) information and soliciting subordinates to arrange loans to raise acquisition funds, exchanging money for favors.
Kim and Lee were investigated to have received bribes worth approximately 460 million won and 380 million won, respectively, from Park between October 2014 and September 2017 as compensation for arranging real estate collateral loan brokerage.
Earlier, the Financial Supervisory Service announced on the 11th that it had conducted a planned inspection of real estate PF at five securities firms and identified numerous cases of employees pursuing personal gain and weaknesses in internal controls within the securities firms. While some securities firms paid large performance bonuses to certain employees due to increased profits related to real estate PF, illegal and unfair cases exploiting the superior positions of some employees were confirmed.
The Financial Supervisory Service's inspection also uncovered cases where non-public profitability and stability information of PF project sites was used to privately lend money to developers at interest rates exceeding legal limits, resulting in the embezzlement of interest amounting to about 4 billion won. Using job-related information, approximately 90 billion won worth of real estate was acquired, and the affiliated securities firm later undertook underwriting and arranging related to the buyer’s financing (convertible bonds) upon resale.
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