[Breaking] Prosecution Refiles Arrest Warrants for Gu Young-bae, Ryu Kwang-jin, and Ryu Hwa-hyun in 'T-Mef Incident'

Re-request for Warrant After One Month... Prosecution Considers "Seriousness of Case and Possibility 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 suspect interrogation held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 10th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

The prosecution, investigating the large-scale unsettled payment incident involving TMON and WEMAKEPRICE (Timep), has reissued arrest warrants for Koo Young-bae, CEO of Qoo10 Group, Ryu Kwang-jin, CEO of TMON, and Ryu Hwa-hyun, CEO of WEMAKEPRICE.

On the 14th, the TMEP dedicated investigation team at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (led by Chief Prosecutor Lee Jun-dong) filed arrest warrants the previous day against CEO Koo and the two CEOs Ryu on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

CEO Koo and others are accused of continuing operations by paying settlement funds to tenant companies in a Ponzi-like manner despite being aware of the inability to pay the settlement amount, thereby embezzling a total of approximately 1.595 trillion won (fraud). They are also charged with causing a total loss of 72 billion won to TMON, WEMAKEPRICE, and Interpark Commerce through preferential treatment of affiliated companies, and embezzling 79.9 billion won of funds from TMON, WEMAKEPRICE, and Interpark Commerce for the acquisition payment of the U.S. e-commerce company 'Wish'.

The prosecution stated, "Considering the seriousness of the case, the possibility of evidence destruction, and the risk of flight comprehensively, we have reissued the pre-arrest warrants."

This reissuance of arrest warrants by the prosecution comes about a month after the court dismissed the warrants. Previously, on the 10th of last month, the court dismissed the arrest warrants for CEO Koo and the two CEOs Ryu, stating, "Considering the nature of the e-commerce platform business, there is room for dispute regarding the charges."