"Opposition Lawmaker Suspected of Money Envelope Scandal to Be Summoned Next Week"
On the 24th, the prosecution investigating the ‘Timon and Wemakeprice (Timemep) unsettled payment incident’ expressed its intention to reapply for arrest warrants for CEO Koo Young-bae of Qoo10 Group and other executives. The prosecution had previously requested arrest warrants for Koo, Timon CEO Ryu Kwang-jin, and Wemakeprice CEO Ryu Hwa-hyun, but the court dismissed them on the 10th, stating that "there is room for dispute regarding the charges."
A prosecution official said on the day, “It can be seen that promotions after April and May were conducted knowing that settlements were impossible,” adding, “We plan to focus on reviewing and investigating those aspects intensively to consider reapplying for the arrest warrants and to present explanations to the court.” It appears they intend to reinforce the point that Timon and Wemakeprice engaged in ‘dumping’ sales of home appliances, daily necessities, and gold at significantly low prices to raise and cover the acquisition cost of the shopping mall ‘Wish,’ which caused considerable damage, and seek the court’s judgment again.
The official explained, “We are carefully reviewing the reasons for dismissal, focusing especially on the fact that 108 complaints have been filed with the prosecution and 43 cases have been transferred by the police, with more than 150 victims.” It is said that numerous complaints were received even after the arrest warrants were dismissed. He said, “We are investigating all victims, and the damage is quite severe,” adding, “There has been enormous damage amounting to about 1.59 trillion won, but it has not been highlighted.”
He also said, “We are investigating the rehabilitation managers to see what role those individuals (the executives) are playing in the rehabilitation process.” He added, “The court’s statement that there is room for dispute likely referred to embezzlement and breach of trust rather than fraud,” and said they would supplement the investigation accordingly.
Regarding the Democratic Party leadership election cash envelope incident, the prosecution plans to send another summons next week to six incumbent lawmakers suspected of bribery. The prosecution had previously sent summonses five to six times, but the lawmakers did not comply, citing parliamentary schedules and other reasons. A prosecution official said, “We cannot be certain, but we cannot keep sending summonses indefinitely.”
Earlier, during the investigation of the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case, it was confirmed that former Deutsche Motors chairman Kwon Oh-soo transferred 2 billion won to Kim Gun-hee, spouse of President Yoon Suk-yeol, in 2016. However, it was concluded that this was a personal loan transaction unrelated to Kim’s involvement or assistance in stock manipulation.
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