Prosecutors summoned and questioned Vice President Kim Jeong-hwan of MBK Partners over suspected bond fraud worth about 100 billion won in connection with the Homeplus Co. scandal.
On the 20th, according to legal sources, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 (headed by Chief Prosecutor Lee Sang-hyeok) summoned Kim as a suspect for questioning.
MBK management, the major shareholder of Homeplus Co., is suspected of having issued bonds totaling 116.4 billion won, including asset-backed short-term bonds (ABSTB), in Feb. last year despite predicting a downgrade of Homeplus Co.'s credit rating.
Earlier, four securities firms including Shinyoung Securities and short-term paper investors filed a criminal complaint with prosecutors against MBK management in Apr. last year, right after Homeplus Co. applied for corporate rehabilitation, alleging fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and violations of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act.
In Jan., prosecutors sought arrest warrants for four key MBK executives, including Vice President Kim, Chairman Kim Byung-ju, Vice Chairman Kim Gwang-il, and Executive Director Lee Seong-jin, but the court rejected all of them, citing insufficient substantiation of the charges. Prosecutors then reassigned the case from Anti-Corruption Division 3 to Division 2, saying they would reassess the matter with an objective perspective.
Prosecutors are expected to decide soon whether to indict after completing their questioning of Chairman Kim and the remaining executives.