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Key figure in development corruption case additionally indicted

March 8, 2023

The owner of an asset management firm at the center of a high-profile development corruption scandal was additionally indicted Thursday on charges of concealing criminal proceeds.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office indicted Kim Man-bae, the largest shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, under detention on charges of stashing a combined 39 billion won (US$29.5 million) of illegal proceeds from the development project from October 2021 to November last year.

Kim was also charged with having criminal evidence destroyed in 2021 in connection with investigations into the scandal and violating the Farmland Act by falsifying his agricultural career for speculation purposes.

Kim is currently standing trial on breach of duty and other charges related to the scandal that centers on allegations that his firm and its affiliates were chosen as private partners for an apartment development project in the Daejang-dong district of the city of Seongnam, just south of Seoul, in 2015 and reaped huge investment profits.

The development was launched in 2015 while Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the main opposition Democratic Party, was mayor of Seongnam.

Kim Man-bae, a key figure in a high-profile development corruption scandal, enters the Seoul Central District Court in the capital for a hearing on Feb. 17, 2023. (Yonhap)
Kim Man-bae, a key figure in a high-profile development corruption scandal, enters the Seoul Central District Court in the capital for a hearing on Feb. 17, 2023. (Yonhap)