Arrest warrant dismissed for ‘actual owner of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 6’… “It’s difficult to admit the need for restraint”

On the 4th, the court dismissed the arrest warrant for Jo Woo-hyeong, whom the prosecution designated as the actual owner of Cheonhwa-dongin No. 6, a private business operator of Daejang-dong development.

Seoul Central District Court Judge Lee Min-soo, who is in charge of the warrant, dismissed the arrest warrant, saying, “It is difficult to recognize the need to arrest the suspect at this stage” after completing the examination of the warrant for Mr. Cho that day.

Chief Judge Lee said, “Related persons such as Lee Jae-myeong and Dong-gyu Yoo, who were listed as accomplices in relation to the charges of breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, have already been indicted for crimes based on the same facts, and a separate criminal trial is in progress.” It is being tried in the present state, and it is expected that it will take a considerable amount of time until the related trial is concluded in the future, which is unavoidable due to the nature of the trial process in which the right to defend is guaranteed.”

Judge Lee continued, “For a faithful hearing in a case where various issues exist, such as whether the suspect and those involved constitute a crime, the specific contribution between the accomplices involved, and the calculation of the amount of damages due to breach of trust, the suspect must also be tried without detention. It seems necessary,” he said.

In the course of the Daejang-dong development project in March and April 2015, Mr. Cho used the secrets of Seongnam City, such as the opening of the Seopangyo Tunnel, to collect a total of 788.6 billion won in illegal development profits along with the so-called ‘Daejang-dong gang’ such as Kim Man-bae and Nam Wook until January of this year and started Seongnam urban development. He is accused of causing damages of 489.5 billion won to the corporation (violation of the Conflict of Interest Prevention Act and breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes).

There is also a charge of concealing criminal proceeds by receiving dividend profits of 28.3 billion won from March 2019 to March 2021 in the account of Cheonhwa Dongin No. 6 while actually owning Cheonhwa Dongin No. The prosecution requested an arrest warrant for Cho on the 1st, believing that the matter was serious and that there was a risk of destroying evidence.

Mr. Cho’s lawyer said, “(The charge) is an accomplice in the corruption of the Daejang-dong development, but there is a lot of room for dispute about the collusion.” The fact that they requested a warrant was also somewhat unexpected,” he raised a question.

Reporter Jang Hye-jin [email protected]

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