The prosecution has requested an arrest warrant for Kim Ki-yu, former chairman of the Taekwang Group Management Council, on suspicion of improper loans amounting to around 15 billion won.
According to industry sources on the 1st, the Criminal Division 4 of the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office filed the arrest warrant request against former Chairman Kim yesterday on charges including breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.
Former Chairman Kim is suspected of ordering a loan of approximately 15 billion won in August 2022 to Lee (58), the CEO of Goryeo and Yegaram Savings Banks, subsidiaries of the group, at the request of his acquaintance, Lee (65), the CEO of a real estate development company. At that time, the savings bank's credit review team submitted an opinion to the credit review committee stating that the business risk was high, but the loan proceeded reportedly under pressure from former Chairman Kim.
The investigation began in November 2023 following a report by a law firm conducting an external audit of Taekwang Group, and in July this year, Lee and the former CEO of the savings bank were indicted.
Former Chairman Kim had been managing the group as the second-in-command since the arrest of former Taekwang Group Chairman Lee Ho-jin in 2011. However, after Lee's special pardon and reinstatement in August last year, Kim was dismissed due to allegations of misconduct.
Additionally, former Chairman Kim is under investigation for conspiring to create slush funds for former Chairman Lee. Taekwang's side claims that Kim is attempting to shift his own criminal acts onto former Chairman Lee.
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