PROSECUTORS SEEK ARREST WARRANT FOR NAM

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Prosecutors are planning to seek an arrest warrant for Nam Wook, a lawyer central in the Daejang-dong development scandal, as early as Tuesday. A local court is now reviewing the legality of the arrest of Yoo Dong-kyu, another key figure in the scandal.

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Prosecutors took Nam Wook into custody at Incheon Airport on Monday. They are expected to request an arrest warrant for the lawyer on Tuesday, as the detention deadline expires early Wednesday morning. Prosecutors are known to have questioned Nam on suspicions of bribery and breach of trust late last night. They believe that Nam and Kim Man-bae, a major shareholder of Hwacheondaeyu, promised to give bribes to Yoo Dong-kyu, the former acting president of Seongnam Development Corporation. In return, they are suspected of receiving business favors, such as the deletion of a clause on retrieving excess profits, and caused huge damage to Seongnam City. Prosecutors questioned Nam on why he had invested 3.5 billion won in Yuwon Holdings, a company known to be owned by Yoo Dong-kyu. This was to check whether or not the investment was actually a bribe provided to Yoo. Regarding the Daejang-dong project, Nam had been insisting in media interviews that he dealt with issues of compensation for land owners and did not know about what happened afterwards. But prosecutors believe that he would have played a major role in the development project, as he participated in it from the beginning and received dividends of more than 100 billion won. Through questioning Nam, they are planning to check the allegations that Hwacheondaeyu provided 35 billion won in bribes as well as to try and solve the mystery over the real owner of Cheonhwadongin No.1. It is predicted that the results from questioning Nam will considerably affect prosecutors’ plan to put Yoo on trial. His detention deadline expires on Thursday. Meanwhile, Yoo has denied the accusations of bribery and breach of trust against him and asked the court to review whether or nor his arrest was legal. The court has begun deliberations on his request.