Seoul Central District Court Grants Provisional Seizure Application
Granted Amount Includes 3.6 Billion KRW from Samsung Gold Exchange and Approximately 4 Billion KRW Total
Ku Young-bae, CEO of Qoo10, has had a provisional seizure order issued on the Banpo Xi apartment he co-owns with his wife.
On the 12th, Yonhap News reported that the Seoul Central District Court recently approved a provisional seizure application on the Banpo Xi apartment in Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, in which CEO Ku holds 70% ownership. The approved seizure amounts are approximately 3.67 billion KRW from Samsung Gold Exchange and 300 million KRW from SCM Solution. The apartment is jointly owned by Ku and his wife in a 70:30 ratio and is estimated to be worth 7 billion KRW.
Koo Young-bae, CEO of Qoo10 Group, is speaking at the urgent inquiry related to the 'Timon and Wemakeprice settlement and refund delay incident' held by the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee on the 30th of last month. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@
Additionally, on the 29th of last month, the court accepted a provisional seizure application for 100 million KRW filed by Culture Gift Certificates against Qoo10 Technology. Qoo10 Technology is a technology subsidiary of Qoo10, acting as a kind of 'control tower' managing domestic e-commerce platforms such as TMON and WEMAKEPRICE. Furthermore, provisional seizure applications filed by Coup Marketing and Malltail against Qoo10 Technology for approximately 697 million KRW and 596 million KRW, respectively, were also approved.
On the 30th of last month, during an emergency inquiry at the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, when asked, "Is it true that you own the Banpo Xi apartment?" CEO Ku responded, "Yes," adding, "I reside in Singapore and only come here occasionally (to use it)," revealing that he has not rented the apartment out to tenants. When asked about his intention to donate the Banpo Xi apartment, he said, "It is not 100% mine; my wife and I own it in a 70:30 ratio," and stated that Banpo Xi is the only real estate property he holds in his name in Korea. He also mentioned, "I have 1 to 2 billion KRW in cash and bank accounts," and expressed his willingness to contribute personal funds to resolve the large-scale settlement delay issue. Furthermore, CEO Ku said that the maximum funds the group can mobilize amount to 80 billion KRW, and although it is difficult to provide specific answers, he believes the company’s capital is depleted.
After listing Gmarket on NASDAQ, Ku sold it to eBay in 2009, and at one point, rumors circulated that he was a "cash billionaire." At that time, eBay acquired a 34.21% stake in Gmarket for 413 million USD (approximately 550 billion KRW at the time). It is known that Ku received over 70 billion KRW in cash by selling his shares when eBay made a public tender offer for the remaining shares. However, he recently stated, "I received 70 billion KRW after selling Gmarket, but I invested it all into Qoo10," and added, "I intend to sell or use as collateral my entire stake in Qoo10, which constitutes most of my assets, to manage the current situation."
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