In Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, accounts provisionally seized to recover criminal revenue from private developers in the Daejang-dong project turned out to be "empty shell accounts" with balances of only tens of thousands of won. Seongnam on the 12th urged prosecutors to share a "substantive execution list" and the flow of funds.
As concern grew over the disposal of the Daejang-dong group's assets after prosecutors dropped their appeal, Seongnam, based on the court's decision to preserve confiscation against the Daejang-dong "big four" (Kim Man-bae, Nam Wook, Jung Young-hak, Yoo Dong-gyu) provided by prosecutors, filed 14 applications for provisional seizure and injunctions in Dec. last year. All were granted.
Seongnam's total claim for provisional seizure and injunctions amounts to 557.9 billion won. But balances confirmed through statements by third-party debtors (financial institutions) were only ▲ Hwacheon Daeyu linked to Kim Man-bae (claim of 270 billion won) 70,000 won ▲ The Spring (claim of 100 billion won) 50,000 won ▲ NSJ Holdings linked to Nam Wook (claim of 30 billion won) about 48 million won, and so on.
Seongnam said prosecutors had known this for four years but shared no details on the flow of funds for the Daejang-dong group's assets and provided only poor materials.
After analyzing the investigative report, Seongnam said prosecutors had determined that as of late July 2022, 427.7 billion won (96.1%) out of 444.9 billion won in criminal revenue had already been spent or hidden and taken out, with only 17.2 billion won (3.9%) left in accounts. Through the provisional seizure process, Seongnam confirmed that the combined balance in those accounts had shrunk further to about 470 million won.
Seongnam said "an empty shell account is not the terminus but the starting point for finding where the money disappeared," and, noting the limits of civil procedures without investigative authority, called on prosecutors to share the flow of criminal revenue they have identified.
Mayor Shin Sang-jin of Seongnam said, "If prosecutors evade providing substantive materials, they can only invite suspicions that they are effectively buying time for the Daejang-dong group," adding, "Seongnam will press ahead with procedures to track down and recover hidden assets to the end regardless of prosecutorial cooperation, and we strongly urge the Ministry of Justice and prosecutors to engage in forward-leaning cooperation even now."