Prosecutors press breach of trust charge against Yoo Dong-gyu, seek arrest warrants for 3 key figures in Daejang-dong scandal

Nov 02, 2021, 08:50 am

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This composite photo shows Kim Man-bae and Nam Wook, key figures in a growing scandal surrounding a land development project in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province./ Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporter Kim Hyun-goo

Prosecutors, who are investigating the Daejang-dong land development case, pressed additional breach of trust charges against Yoo Dong-gyu, former acting president of Seongnam Development Corp. and sent him to trial.

They also sought arrest warrants for three key figures in the scandal including Kim Man-bae, the largest shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, on charges of breach of trust and bribery in connection with the lucrative project in Seongnam, south of Seoul.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office’s investigation team in charge of the Daejang-dong scandal indicted Yoo Monday for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (Breaching) and taking bribes after improper treatment. Last month, Yoo had been arrested and indicted on charges of bribery.

According to the indictment, Yoo carried out the Daejang-dong development project in 2015 with Kim Man-bae, Nam Wook, Chung Min-yong, and Chung Young-hak, and negotiated a structure for sharing development profits so that Hwacheon Daeyu and other firms could obtain huge development profits.

Yoo is accused of drawing up a guideline to favor specific private companies such as Hwacheon Daeyu in the public bidding in the project, and unfairly adjusting the score so that specific company is selected to become the preferred bidder.

Yoo is also accused of inflicting at least 65.1 billion won (US$55.2 million) in damage to Seongnam Development Corp. by allowing specific private companies to acquire housing site development dividends and substantial implantation profits.

The prosecutors found that Yoo provided various kinds of preferential treatment. For instance, he reduced the expected housing site development profit from more than 15 million won (US$12,700) to 14 million won (US$11,900) per pyong and excluded Seongnam Development Corp. from recovering the profits from the sale of 5 blocks directly managed by Hwacheon Daeyu.

The prosecutors also stated in the indictment that Yoo accepted 500 million won in bribes from Kim on January 31. They explained that it was confirmed that the check issued by Kim was delivered to Nam and Chung by Yoo.

In addition, the investigation team reordered an arrest warrant for Kim, whose arrest warrant had been previously denied, and sought an arrest warrant for Nam and Chung. They believe that both Nam and Chung colluded with Yoo.

Many inside and outside the legal circle believe that the prosecution’s request for an arrest warrant for Kim and others is holding the fate of the investigation into allegations related to Daejang-dong. This is because if the arrest warrant is denied once again, the speed of the investigation is likely to drop sharply as the investigation team has been criticized for its slow progress.

On the other hand, if the prosecutors succeed in arresting Kim and other key figures, they are likely to speed up the investigation surrounding the Daejang-dong scandal.

#prosecution #Hwacheon Daeyu #Yoo Dong-gyu #Kim Man-bae #Daejang-dong