Prosecutors Indict Daebang Construction Chairman
for "Family Affiliate Public Land Resale"
Prosecutors have indicted Koo Kyo-woon, chairman of Daebang Construction Group, without detention on charges of receiving public land allocations through so-called "swarm bidding."
According to the legal community on May 26, the Fair Trade Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (headed by Kim Yong-sik) referred Chairman Koo to trial on charges of violating the Fair Trade Act.
According to prosecutors, Chairman Koo, together with his son Koo Chan-woo, CEO of Daebang Construction, is accused of providing excessive economic benefits by reselling six parcels of public land worth approximately 206.9 billion won, owned by Daebang Construction, to Daebang Industrial Development and other affiliates operated by his son-in-law over a period of about five years from November 2014 to March 2020.
The public land resold by Daebang Construction to Daebang Industrial Development and other affiliates was located in new towns and innovation cities in Seoul and the metropolitan area, and was considered "prime" land with significant development potential. It was found that Daebang Industrial Development, with the assistance of Chairman Koo, developed the acquired public land and achieved 1.6 trillion won in sales and 250.1 billion won in operating profit, as well as a 151-place rise in its construction capability ranking.
Prosecutors had previously indicted CEO Koo in March on the same charges without detention and continued their investigation. The Daebang Construction corporation was also indicted at that time. The prosecution began investigating Daebang Construction following a complaint filed by the Fair Trade Commission in February this year, expanding the investigation by conducting searches and seizures at affiliate offices.
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