Prosecutors Reapply for Arrest Warrant of Former Taekwang Group Chairman Kim Ki-yoo

One Month After Warrant Dismissal Last Month

The prosecution has refiled an arrest warrant for Kim Giyu, former chairman of the Taekwang Group Management Council, who is accused of ordering improper loans amounting to around 15 billion won to affiliated company executives.

Yonhap News

On the 20th, the Criminal Division 4 of the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Yeo Kyung-jin) announced that it had refiled an arrest warrant for former Chairman Kim on charges including breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes the previous day.

This comes about a month after the warrant was dismissed by the Seoul Western District Court on the 4th of last month. Previously, the court ruled that there was little risk of evidence destruction or flight and that the necessity of detention was not recognized at this stage, thus dismissing the warrant. In response, the prosecution has conducted supplementary investigations into former Chairman Kim's charges.

Former Chairman Kim is accused of ordering Lee (age 58), then CEO of the group's affiliates Goryeo and Yegaram Savings Banks, to execute loans worth approximately 15 billion won in August last year at the request of his acquaintance, Lee (age 65), the CEO of a real estate development company. At that time, Lee was reportedly in a situation where it was difficult to obtain additional loans from other financial institutions, but the loan was pushed through at former Chairman Kim's insistence.

After former Taekwang Group Chairman Lee Hojin was detained in 2011 on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust, former Chairman Kim took over the group's management and acted as a key figure in the group. However, the law firm responsible for the group's external audit detected signs of corruption, leading to an investigation. The law firm filed a complaint last year, alleging that former Chairman Kim committed various corrupt acts while managing the group during former Chairman Lee's imprisonment, and the Western District Prosecutors' Office launched an investigation. The company dismissed former Chairman Kim due to allegations of misconduct.