The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office has moved to secure the custody of former and current employees of Korea Asset Trust, who are accused of receiving kickbacks from a service company. On the 19th, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, led by Chief Prosecutor Lee Seung-hak, announced that they have requested arrest warrants for three former executives, including a person referred to as Mr. A, on charges of aggravated bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.
Mr. A and others allegedly received tens of millions to hundreds of millions of won from a sales agency. The prosecution began its investigation on November 5th, following a request from the Financial Supervisory Service. It was revealed that employees of Korea Asset Trust had received large sums of money as kickbacks in exchange for lending land purchase funds or arranging loans to developers through their privately owned corporations.
Based on the findings from the Financial Supervisory Service, the prosecution has been investigating charges of aggravated bribery under the Special Economic Crimes Act, illegal private financing and lending violations against Korea Asset Trust, Korea Land Trust, and former and current employees. On October 31st, the prosecution conducted a search and seizure of Korea Asset Trust employees, and on November 14th, Mr. A was summoned as a suspect.