Prosecutors Reapply for Arrest Warrants in Qoo10, Tmon, and Wemakeprice Payment

The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office has re-applied for arrest warrants against Koo Young-bae, CEO of Qoo10, Ryu Kwang-jin, CEO of Tmon, and Ryu Hwa-hyun, CEO of Wemakeprice, on charges related to a large-scale unpaid settlement case.

They are accused of embezzling approximately 1.595 trillion won in payments related to the sale of goods and causing losses of 72 billion won to Tmon, Wemakeprice, and Interpark Commerce through preferential business practices benefiting affiliated companies.

The charges also include embezzling a total of 79.9 billion won from the three companies under the pretext of acquisition payments for a U.S. e-commerce company, among others.

The prosecution stated, "Considering the gravity of the case, the possibility of evidence destruction, and the risk of flight, we have re-applied for the arrest warrants."

This reapplication for arrest warrants comes about a month after the court dismissed the previous request, citing disputable charges.

In the meantime, the prosecution has reinforced the charges through a comprehensive investigation of the victims.

Earlier this month, they resumed questioning the suspects, Koo Young-bae, Ryu Kwang-jin, and Ryu Hwa-hyun, under the status of suspects.

The updated arrest warrant application revealed that the amount involved in breach of trust charges increased by approximately 3 billion won to a total of 72 billion won, and the amount related to embezzlement increased by 13 billion won.

The prosecution suspects that Koo Young-bae attempted to secure operational funds for Qoo10 by acquiring the financially insolvent Wemakeprice and Tmon after the failure of Qxpress’s NASDAQ listing.

Despite being aware of their inability to pay settlement funds to sellers, they allegedly continued a deceptive scheme of rolling-over payments, ultimately defrauding about 1.5 trillion won in settlement payments.


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Prosecutors Reapply for Arrest Warrants in Qoo10, Tmon, and Wemakeprice Payment Scandal