[비즈한국] There is a common adage within the prosecution: "A good corporate investigation is one that is concluded as quickly as possible." This reflects the importance of completing investigations swiftly and accurately, given the significant economic repercussions—ranging from the livelihoods of company employees to the damages suffered by related businesses.
A recent case under investigation by the prosecution exemplifies this approach: the team investigating the TMON and WeMakePrice (T'Mep) scandal. The investigation began with extensive raids on 10 locations, including the offices of Qoo10, TMON, and WeMakePrice, on the 1st of this month. It is predicted that key figures could be summoned as early as this week. Within and outside the prosecution, there is even talk that an arrest warrant for Qoo10 CEO Ku Young-bae is a "foregone conclusion."
Prosecution deploys "strongest firepower" to expedite investigation
Regarding the T'Mep scandal, the prosecution formed a dedicated investigation team centered around the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Anti-Corruption Investigation Department 1 (Chief Prosecutor Lee Joon-dong), which is considered their "strongest firepower." Following the start of raids on the 1st, they conducted simultaneous searches on the 5th at the home and office of Qoo10 CEO Ku Young-bae, the Qoo10 Technology office, the TMON headquarters, and the WeMakePrice office.
Summons for questioning as witnesses are also in full swing. On the 2nd, the prosecution summoned Lee Si-joon, the financial head of Qoo10 Group—known as the "key man" for the financial situation of TMON and WeMakePrice—as a witness. On the 7th, digital forensics were performed on the mobile phones and laptops of WeMakePrice CEO Ryu Hwa-hyun and TMON CEO Ryu Kwang-jin. On the 9th, Kwon Do-wan, a division head at TMON, and Hwang Joon-ho, the partner growth support team leader at WeMakePrice, were summoned for questioning.
The prosecution views the allegations against CEO Ku Young-bae and others as involving fraud in the scale of 1 trillion KRW and embezzlement in the scale of 40 billion KRW. These charges were specified in the warrants during the raids. The prosecution's stance is that fraud charges can be applied if it is proven that TMON and WeMakePrice intentionally deceived the other party while knowing they lacked the intent and ability to fulfill their contractual obligations at the time of the transactions. The investigation team also believes that the application for corporate rehabilitation by TMON and WeMakePrice supports the intent to defraud. Given that the rehabilitation request was filed shortly after CEO Ku announced he would contribute personal assets, the prosecution argues this indicates a "lack of intent or willingness to pay."
It is reported that the prosecution has questioned those recently summoned as witnesses regarding when they became aware of the settlement delays, the flow of funds between TMON, WeMakePrice, and Qoo10 and whether they were directed by leadership, the circumstances behind the rehabilitation filings, and the acquisition process of the U.S. e-commerce company 'Wish' and its related funding.
CEO Ku Young-bae hires law firm; pushes for TMON-WeMakePrice merger
It is known that the prosecution has secured statements indicating that there were issues. Upon attending the forensic process on the 7th, TMON CEO Ryu Kwang-jin and WeMakePrice CEO Ryu Hwa-hyun both gave similar responses, stating, "CEO Ku ordered us to transfer the gift certificate business and digital/home appliance business divisions to TMON after the acquisition of WeMakePrice."
The prosecution is also focusing on this point. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's dedicated team explained, "We are investigating why products were sold when they lacked the ability to settle payments, and whether sales proceeds were used for their intended purposes. We have coordinated with the police regarding the specific scope and content of the investigation; the prosecution will handle the investigation of key figures."
Observations suggest that the prosecution will conduct summonings of both key suspects and witnesses starting as early as this week. Among the witnesses not yet classified as suspects, it is expected that some will be reclassified. The prevailing view is that some of the CEOs of the respective companies and Qoo10 executives in charge of fund flows will face punishment. There is also talk of the possibility that arrest warrants will be requested immediately following these summonings. In particular, it is an open secret within the prosecution that a warrant for CEO Ku Young-bae will be requested immediately after his summons.
CEO Ku Young-bae is also responding to the investigation by hiring major law firms. Recently, he retained lawyers from the Hwawoo criminal response group, led by former prosecutor Lee Sun-bong. He is also pushing for a merger of the two platforms to resolve the massive settlement delinquency crisis.
On the 8th, Qoo10 applied to the court to establish a new entity named 'KCCW (K-Commerce Center for World)' as a platform to merge TMON and WeMakePrice. As a first step, they invested 999,999,900 KRW in initial capital. Since a merger of TMON and WeMakePrice requires court approval, the plan is to first establish the new entity to prepare for the merger and normalize business operations.
Legal experts suggest this is a strategic move by CEO Ku to emphasize to the court that he is "making efforts to recover damages" when the arrest warrant is requested. A legal professional familiar with the case said, "The investigation team is keeping in mind everything CEO Ku said at the National Assembly, such as 'I can revive it if you help me,' or his claims regarding fund flows. As he is the person at the center of a case that caused damages of an enormous scale, surely they will request a warrant regardless of what he says after the summons."
A lawyer who is a former special investigation prosecutor predicted, "As People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon once mentioned, there is a saying among special investigation prosecutors that 'if you finish everything from the first raid to the CEO's summons within a month, it's a job well done.' Because this case has garnered so much national interest and anger, the prosecution will try to wrap it up as quickly as possible using their top investigation team. It is expected that they will summon CEO Ku Young-bae as a suspect within this month and request a warrant the very next day."