Park Seong-hye, former head of the shopping mall Allets, which abruptly shut down without settling 26.3 billion won in sales proceeds to partner vendors, has been indicted on fraud charges.
On the 21st, the Criminal Division 4 of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office (Director General Kim Hyeong-geol) said it indicted Park, the former head of Allets operator Interstella, without detention on the 15th on charges of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and violating the Electronic Financial Transactions Act.
Prosecutors say Park knew there was a possibility of not being able to pay 103 vendors on Allets in July–August 2024, yet received and pocketed about 19 billion won in sales proceeds.
Park also took about 58 million won in purchase payments from 32 customers, and, through a payment gateway company (PG firm), paid members about 7.2 billion won in refunds.
Afterward, Allets posted a notice on its website in August of the same year, saying, "We inform you that due to unavoidable management circumstances, services will be terminated as of Aug. 31," and ended service. As complaints from partner vendors and consumers were filed one after another, police referred Park to prosecutors with a recommendation for indictment in May last year.
Allets is an online home appliance and furniture shopping mall founded in April 2019. Its sudden shutdown while leaving proceeds unsettled drew criticism as the "second T-MEP."
Park is said to have continued a "ponzi-like" operation, paying unsettled amounts with new sales proceeds even after prolonged management woes.