[Breaking] Arrest Warrants for MBK's Byungjoo Kim and Homeplus Incident Executives Dismissed

The arrest warrant for Byungjoo Kim, Chairman of MBK Partners, who is accused of fraud amounting to 100 billion won in connection with the 'Homeplus Incident,' was dismissed on January 14.

Chairman Byungjoo Kim of MBK Partners, who is accused of fraud amounting to 100 billion won related to the 'Homeplus Incident,' is entering the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 13th for a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant hearing). Photo by Yonhap News

Park Jungho, Chief Judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, conducted a pre-arrest warrant hearing on the previous day from 10 a.m. for four individuals: Chairman Kim, who faces charges of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and violations of the Capital Markets Act; Kwangil Kim, Vice Chairman of MBK Partners and CEO of Homeplus; Junghwan Kim, Vice President of MBK Partners; and Sungjin Lee, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Homeplus. After the hearing, the judge dismissed all of their arrest warrants.

Previously, the Third Anti-Corruption Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (acting chief prosecutor Kim Bongjin) had requested arrest warrants on January 7, alleging that, despite anticipating a downgrade in Homeplus's credit rating, the executives issued large-scale Asset-Backed Short-Term Bonds (ABSTB) and other securities. Prosecutors believe that MBK Partners' management subsequently filed for corporate rehabilitation abruptly, causing losses to investors.