Prosecution Detains Mark Lee, CEO of Q Express, from Leaving the Country in Relation to Times Scandal

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office Investigation Deliberation Committee recommended the prosecution to indict Pastor Choi Jae-young, who gave luxury bags and other items to First Lady Kim Keon-hee, on charges of violating the Anti-Graft Act. On the 25th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

The prosecution has imposed a travel ban on Mark Lee, CEO of Qxpress, a logistics subsidiary of Qoo10, in connection with the large-scale unsettled payment incident involving TMON and WEMAKEPRICE.

According to the legal community on the 29th, the TMON and WEMAKEPRICE special investigation team at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (led by Chief Prosecutor Lee Joon-dong) recently imposed a travel ban on CEO Mark Lee. Mark Lee entered the country from Singapore to undergo prosecution investigation. The travel ban is a measure applied to foreigners, and Mark Lee holds U.S. citizenship.

Mark Lee was identified as the person who concurrently served as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Qoo10 Group and oversaw the entire group's finances. The prosecution believes that the embezzled funds from TMON and WEMAKEPRICE, including the acquisition payment for the U.S. e-commerce company Wish by the Qoo10 Group, amount to 67.1 billion KRW, and is investigating whether he was involved in the management of these funds.

Furthermore, the investigation is also looking into whether he was involved in preferential business practices such as directing TMON and WEMAKEPRICE products to be sold through Qxpress for Qxpress's Nasdaq listing in the U.S., as well as 'reverse margin promotions.'

Earlier, on the 7th, the prosecution conducted a second summons investigation of Koo Young-bae, CEO of Qoo10 Group, and also summoned CEO Mark Lee. The Ministry of Justice has imposed travel bans on CEO Koo, as well as on Ryu Kwang-jin, CEO of TMON; Ryu Hwa-hyun, CEO of WEMAKEPRICE; and Mok Joo-young, CEO of Qoo10 Korea.