Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor, 'Dismissed' IMS·Oasis Warrant to be Reapplied..."Difference in Opinion with Court"

[Financial News] Kim Geon-hee's Special Prosecutor Team (Min Jung-gi Special Prosecutor) plans to reapply for arrest warrants for Cho Young-tak, CEO of IMS Mobility, and Min Kyung-min, CEO of Oasis Equity Partners, who failed to secure custody.
Kim Hyung-geun, Deputy Special Prosecutor, stated on the 3rd, "We plan to reapply for arrest warrants for CEO Cho and others," adding, "The special prosecutor believes that the seriousness of CEO Cho's charges has been sufficiently explained."
Park Jeong-ho, the judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, dismissed the arrest warrants for CEO Cho, CEO Min, and Mo Jae-yong, Director of Management Support at IMS Mobility, who are charged with breach of trust under the Special Economic Crimes Act, at 4:30 a.m. today. The court explained, "There is insufficient explanation for the necessity of arrest and concerns about flight and evidence destruction."
The special prosecutor team immediately protested. They pointed out that the court stated that the 'seriousness of the charges' was not sufficiently explained, rather than the 'explanation of charges' for the necessity of arrest. The court reportedly failed to explain the seriousness of the charges in more than two-thirds of the over 2000-character dismissal reasons. Deputy Special Prosecutor Kim stated, "It is very unusual for a warrant to be dismissed due to insufficient explanation of the seriousness of the charges," adding, "There is a difference in opinion between the court and the special prosecutor not only on the explanation of charges but also on the seriousness of the charges." The special prosecutor maintains that the criminal acts committed by the three were sufficiently recognized during the arrest warrant review for 'butler' Kim Ye-seong, and that their crimes are serious.
In particular, they pointed out that CEO Cho's statement distributed before the special prosecutor's summons investigation, which mentioned using 35 billion won out of 46 billion won from the sale of old shares of Innovest Korea for personal debt, was essentially an admission of the crime. They believe that CEO Cho and CEO Min structured it as if they were investing in subsidiaries through capital increase with investment funds received from companies, but actually hollowed out the investment funds. They also see that IMS Mobility was in a de facto capital erosion state, yet companies resolved owner risk through quid pro quo investments. It is not considered normal investment behavior for companies with excellent business judgment to invest in a company that could not recover its investment funds without reason.
Deputy Special Prosecutor Kim emphasized, "The embezzled funds were essentially used for CEO Cho, making him the main offender, and his crime is more serious than Mr. Kim's," adding, "It should not be allowed under the legal order for a breach of trust offender involving tens of billions of won to be released without detention due to insufficient explanation of the seriousness of the charges. There is a high risk of evidence destruction related to future investigations, and it is necessary to eliminate this risk and prevent signals that this is not an important case to other accomplices."
The special prosecutor team plans to continue the investigation after successfully securing custody of them according to the set timeline. As the special prosecutor team considers them key suspects in the 'butler gate', they plan to continue the investigation into investment companies after securing custody. They also view Mr. Kim's spouse, Mr. Jeong, as an accomplice in embezzlement, so additional summons investigations are expected in the future. As it is not yet confirmed whether Mrs. Kim Geon-hee was directly involved in the investment process, the special prosecutor team is expected to investigate Mrs. Kim after securing the custody, statements, and evidence of related persons.
As the special prosecutor team challenges the judiciary's decision, the confrontation is expected to continue for the time being. In particular, as the Kim Geon-hee special prosecutor team had a search and seizure warrant related to the 'butler gate' dismissed once, confrontation with the suspects over the legal legitimacy of the 'butler gate' investigation is inevitable.
Meanwhile, the special prosecutor team is re-investigating Lee Bong-gwan, Chairman of Seohee Construction, today. Chairman Lee was investigated the previous day regarding the 'NATO tour package', but due to health reasons, he returned home without completing the investigation prepared by the special prosecutor. It is understood that the special prosecutor team called him today to complete the unfinished investigation and to sign the investigation records.
theknight@fnnews.com Jeong Kyung-soo Reporter