The CEO of the electronic payment gateway (PG) company Lumen Payments has been re-indicted on charges of embezzling approximately 40 billion KRW of company funds, following a delay in repaying about 78 billion KRW.
The Criminal Division 14 of the Seoul Southern District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Jeong-hee) held the first trial on the additional indictment related to CEO Kim In-hwan's embezzlement charges on the afternoon of the 5th.
According to the prosecution, CEO Kim is accused of misappropriating 39.7 billion KRW of Lumen Payments' funds for personal use over 408 instances from December 2022 to March 2024 (embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes). Additionally, from November 2022 to August 2024, he is charged with embezzling 1.068 billion KRW from four entities including Lumen Financial over 30 occasions, adding charges of embezzlement in the course of business.
Kim's defense attorney stated that they "fully acknowledge" the facts in the additional indictment, and the court plans to consolidate this case with the ongoing case regarding Kim's alleged violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud) for joint trial.
Previously, Kim was arrested and indicted in September last year on charges of fraud for obtaining 72 billion KRW from the online investment-linked finance company Cross Finance and another 6 billion KRW in preferential loans from another company by using a paper company to secure false credit card accounts receivable as collateral. Seo, who was also indicted without detention for aiding Kim's fraudulent acts, through his defense attorney, admitted to creating the system requested by Kim necessary for the crime but claimed there was no intent as he did not recognize it was for fraudulent purposes.
The next hearing is scheduled for 2:30 PM on the 9th of next month.
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