Seongnam City Secures 'Collateral Provision Order'... Provisional Seizure Approval Imminent
Even Without Major Law Firms, Corporate Borrowed-Name Assets Frozen
Asset Freeze Gains Momentum... Green Light for Provisional Seizure Worth Over 500 Billion KRW
On December 15, Seongnam City (Mayor Shin Sangjin) announced that it had obtained a court order for collateral provision amounting to 410 billion KRW against the assets of Kim Manbae, the main culprit in the Daejang-dong development corruption case. The freezing of criminal proceeds by the Daejang-dong group is becoming increasingly concrete. The total amount of provisional seizure and collateral provision orders that Seongnam City has secured through independent civil litigation now stands at 517.3 billion KRW, far surpassing the amount preserved by the prosecution.
Seongnam City (Mayor Shin Sangjin) has obtained a court order for collateral provision amounting to 410 billion won against Kim Manbae, the key culprit in the Daejang-dong development corruption case. View of Seongnam City Hall. Provided by Seongnam City
The latest collateral provision order covers a total of 410 billion KRW, including Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management (300 billion KRW), The Spring (100 billion KRW), and Cheonhwa Dongin No. 2 (10 billion KRW), all of which are deemed to be effectively owned by Kim Manbae.
Seongnam City explained that the court's collateral provision order issued on December 11 reflects the need to freeze assets held under corporate names but actually owned by others (so-called borrowed-name assets). The city emphasized that this is significant because it helps prevent a gap in the recovery of criminal proceeds that could have arisen from the prosecution's decision not to appeal.
As of December 15, out of 14 provisional seizure applications filed by Seongnam Urban Development Corporation, the court has approved 7 cases and issued collateral provision orders for 5 cases. Two cases are still pending a decision.
Specifically, the court has approved provisional seizure applications for Nam Wook (42 billion KRW, including one case of a real estate disposition prohibition order) and Jung Younghak (64.6 billion KRW). Applications for provisional seizure of assets belonging to Kim Manbae and Yoo Donggyu will also be approved and frozen immediately once the city deposits the required collateral.
As a result, the total amount for which provisional seizure or collateral provision orders have been granted now stands at 517.3 billion KRW.
This exceeds the 445.6 billion KRW preserved by the prosecution during the criminal trial process by 71.7 billion KRW, underscoring the significance of Seongnam City's independent civil actions to secure these assets.
Seongnam City stated, "At a time when some defendants were seeking to have the preservation orders lifted due to the prosecution's decision not to appeal the Daejang-dong case, we have demonstrated our strong commitment to ensuring that all criminal proceeds are recovered." The city added, "We will promptly finalize the remaining two provisional seizure applications (worth 50 billion KRW), and we are determined to win the main lawsuit to ensure that all Daejang-dong criminal proceeds are returned to the citizens."
Meanwhile, the first hearing for the core lawsuit seeking to nullify the dividend resolution of Seongnam's Garden, which aims to invalidate the dividends received by the Daejang-dong group, has been postponed by the court to March 10 of next year. As a result, Seongnam City and its citizens are calling for the civil court to proceed swiftly to ensure rapid recovery of damages.
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