Koo Young-bae faces embezzlement charges; trial starts April 8 in Seoul

The first trial of Ku Young-bae, the CEO of Qoo10 Group, who has been indicted on charges of breach of trust and embezzlement related to the 'large-scale settlement incident involving TMON and WEMAKEPRICE', will officially begin on April 8th. He is expected to disclose his position regarding the allegations on that day.

On the morning of the 18th, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 24, presided by Judge Choi Kyung-seo, held the second pre-trial hearing for Ku and nine others, including Ryu Kwang-jin, the CEO of TMON, and Ryu Hwa-hyun, the CEO of WEMAKEPRICE, who were indicted without detention on charges of breach of trust, embezzlement, and fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment for Specific Economic Crimes. The pre-trial hearing is a procedure to organize major issues and evidence before determining guilt or innocence.

The court stated, 'We will conclude the pre-trial hearing' and added, 'The first trial will be held on April 8th in the morning.' They further noted, 'We will hear the defendants' acknowledgment of the allegations and proceed with procedures such as witness selection.' Additionally, they mentioned, 'On April 22nd, we will listen to presentations from the prosecution and the defendants related to the structure of this case and start the witness examination,' and added, 'The trial will be conducted at two-week intervals.'

The court announced that it would examine witnesses such as Mark Lee, Chief Financial Officer of Qoo10 Express, and the representative of the emergency response committee for victims associated with the sales companies of TMON and WEMAKEPRICE during the formal trial process. In response, the prosecution stated, 'Through victim testimony, we will be able to understand how this incident occurred, what kind of deception was perpetrated against TMON, and how it meets the elements of the crime of fraud.'

Ku is accused of conspiring with Ryu Kwang-jin and Ryu Hwa-hyun to embezzle settlement funds from TMON and WEMAKEPRICE amounting to approximately 1.85 trillion won. He is also accused of embezzling 50 billion won under the pretext of acquiring a U.S. e-commerce company.

Since July of last year, they have been charged with causing damages by imposing various expenses, including a total of 72.71 billion won in discount expenses, on TMON, WEMAKEPRICE, and Interpark Commerce during the process of funneling work to the Korean corporation for Qoo10 Group's logistics subsidiary, Qoo10 Express, to prepare for its Nasdaq listing.