Court Rejects Arrest Warrants for Ku Young-bae, Ryu Hwa-hyun, and Ryu Kwang-jin in 'Timef Incident'

"There is room to dispute the charges, and no concern of evidence tampering"

Gu Young-bae, CEO of Qoo10 Group, identified as the key suspect who triggered the large-scale unpaid settlement incident at TMON and WEMAKEPRICE, is attending the pre-arrest hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 10th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The arrest warrants for Koo Young-bae, CEO of Qoo10 Group, Ryu Hwa-hyun, CEO of Wemakeprice, and Ryu Kwang-jin, CEO of Tmon, who are identified as key suspects in the ‘T-Mef (Timon·Wemakeprice) non-payment incident,’ were dismissed.

On the 10th, Shin Young-hee, the judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, conducted a pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant substantive examination) for Koo, who is accused of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, and then dismissed the arrest warrant requested by the prosecution, stating, “It is difficult to recognize the grounds, necessity, and reasonableness for detention.”

Judge Shin also explained the reason for dismissing the warrant, saying, “Since there is room for the suspect (Koo) to dispute the criminal charges, the need to guarantee the right to defense exists. Considering the investigation process, the evidence secured, the attitude during the hearing, age, career, and residential status, it is difficult to conclude that there is a risk of flight or evidence destruction.”

Judge Shin also dismissed the arrest warrants for CEOs Ryu Hwa-hyun and Ryu Kwang-jin, stating, “Considering their positions and roles within the corporate group and the investigation process, it is difficult to recognize the grounds, necessity, and reasonableness for detention.”

Earlier, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office T-Mef Incident Special Investigation Team (led by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee Jun-dong) filed pre-arrest detention warrants for Koo and others on the 4th. The prosecution conducted searches of Koo’s residence and summoned Koo twice for questioning on the 30th of last month and the 2nd of this month.