The pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant review) for MBK Partners Chairman Kim Byung-ju, who faces charges of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and violations of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (fraudulent unfair trading), ended after a record 13 hours and 40 minutes.
According to legal sources on the 14th, Kim's warrant review began at 10 a.m. under the scrutiny of Seoul Central District Court warrant judge Park Jeong-ho and concluded at 11:40 p.m., taking a total of 13 hours and 40 minutes.
This is the longest on record since warrant reviews were introduced in 1997. The previous record was former National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Seo Hoon, who was detained after a 10-hour, 6-minute review in Dec. 2022 over the "West Sea civil servant shooting case." This session was more than three hours longer.
The length of the review appears to have been influenced by the complexity of the case structure and extended explanations from both sides.
The warrant review reportedly began with the prosecution's presentation of materials and continued until 2 p.m. Afterward, MBK's defense team presented its materials late into the evening, followed by questions from the bench and the suspect's statement. Kim's side is said to have flatly denied the allegations.
The fact that there are multiple suspects besides Kim is also cited as a factor for the prolonged review. On this day, MBK Partners Vice Chairman Kim Gwang-il, MBK Vice President Kim Jeong-hwan, and Homeplus Co. Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Lee Seong-jin also underwent warrant reviews.
Earlier, on the 7th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 (acting chief prosecutor Kim Bong-jin) requested arrest warrants from the court for the suspects on charges including fraud and violations of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act. Prosecutors believe they deceived investors and caused losses by issuing short-term bonds and other instruments even while recognizing the downgrade of Homeplus Co.'s credit rating and the possibility of corporate rehabilitation.
In particular, three people including Vice Chairman Kim, excluding Chairman Kim, also face charges of accounting fraud. Before Homeplus Co. filed for corporate rehabilitation with the court, they transferred the redemption right holder of redeemable convertible preferred shares (RCPS) from the special purpose company (SPC) Korea Retail Investment to Homeplus Co., treating a liability as equity and violating accounting standards. They are also accused of obstructing the duties of a credit rating agency by failing to properly reflect Homeplus Co.'s difficult financial condition in the audit report.
Immediately after the review ended, Kim and the others were to be transferred to the Seoul Detention Center to await the outcome of the arrest review in the detainee holding room. A decision on whether to detain them is expected as early as the early morning of the 14th.