Law: "No Risk of Evidence Destruction or Flight"
The court once again dismissed the arrest warrants for Koo Young-bae, CEO of Qoo10 Group, and the management, who are the key suspects in the large-scale unpaid settlement incident involving TMON and WEMAKEPRICE.
Gu Young-bae, CEO of Qoo10 and the key suspect in the unsettled payment issue of Tmon and Wemakeprice, is attending the warrant hearing held on the 18th at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-jun
On the 19th, Nam Cheon-gyu, the judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, conducted a detention hearing for Koo, who is accused of fraud, embezzlement, and breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, as well as for Ryu Hwa-hyun, CEO of WEMAKEPRICE, and Ryu Kwang-jin, CEO of TMON, and subsequently dismissed all arrest warrants.
Judge Nam stated regarding Koo, “After the previous dismissal of the arrest warrant, there is no evidence that the suspect attempted to destroy evidence or flee,” and added, “There is room for dispute regarding the establishment of the crime and its circumstances. Considering the evidence collected and submitted after the dismissal of the arrest warrant, the evidence collected so far, the suspect’s statements, the progress of the investigation, and the suspect’s career and social ties, it is difficult to see a risk that the suspect would destroy evidence or flee, contrary to the previous dismissal decision.”
Regarding Ryu Kwang-jin, CEO of TMON, and Ryu Hwa-hyun, CEO of WEMAKEPRICE, he judged, “Considering the possibility of dispute over the criminal facts and involvement, the suspects’ statements, their relationship with CEO Koo, their positions and roles, evidence additionally submitted after the dismissal of the arrest warrant, the progress of the investigation and evidence relations, and the suspects’ residences and social ties, it is difficult to recognize the grounds and necessity for detention at this stage.” He also noted that he took into account Ryu Hwa-hyun’s career and the circumstances under which he joined WEMAKEPRICE.
Earlier, the court conducted detention hearings starting with CEO Koo at 10 a.m., followed by CEO Ryu Kwang-jin at 11 a.m., and CEO Ryu Hwa-hyun at 2 p.m. on the previous day.
CEO Koo, who appeared at the court around 9:40 a.m. the day before, said, “I sincerely apologize to the customers, sellers, and many others who have been harmed by this incident,” and added, “I clearly acknowledge my responsibility for this incident and deeply reflect on it.” He also stated, “If given the opportunity to remain free, I will do my best to restore the damages.”
Koo and others are accused of continuing operations by paying settlement funds to tenant companies in a Ponzi-like manner despite being aware of their inability to pay the settlement amounts, thereby embezzling approximately 1.595 trillion KRW (about 1.595 trillion won) through fraud. They are also accused of causing damages worth 72 billion KRW to TMON, WEMAKEPRICE, and Interpark Commerce through preferential treatment of affiliated companies, and embezzling 79.9 billion KRW of funds from TMON, WEMAKEPRICE, and Interpark Commerce for the acquisition payment of the U.S. e-commerce company ‘Wish.’
Previously, the prosecution requested arrest warrants for Koo and the two Ryus, but the court dismissed the warrants on the 10th of last month, stating, “Considering the nature of the e-commerce platform business, there is room for dispute over the charges.”
In response, the prosecution conducted supplementary investigations and re-requested the arrest warrants on the 14th. Unlike the previous request, the new arrest warrants included charges related to Interpark Commerce, increasing the amount of breach of trust by about 2.8 billion KRW and embezzlement by about 12.8 billion KRW.
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