CEOs of Qoo10, TMON, WeMakePrice indicted in e-commerce insolvency case
This compilation image shows Qoo10 CEO Ku Young-bae, left, TMON CEO Ryu Kwang-jin, center, and WeMakePrice CEO Ryu Hwa-hyun attending arrest warrant hearings at the Seoul Central District Court on Nov. 18. Yonhap
The prosecution on Wednesday indicted e-commerce giant Qoo10 CEO Ku Young-bae and heads of two Qoo10 subsidiaries without detention on fraud, embezzlement and breach of trust charges related to the group's large-scale payment delays to vendors.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office said that TMON CEO Ryu Kwang-jin and WeMakePrice CEO Ryu Hwa-hyun were also indicted without detention on the same charges, along with seven group executives.
In late July, TMON and WeMakePrice filed for court receivership due to liquidity problems that resulted in massive delayed payments to vendors on their platforms.
Ku is accused of conspiring with the TMON and WeMakePrice CEOs to defraud vendors of about 1.85 trillion won ($1.29 billion) and embezzling some 100 billion won in corporate funds. The three are also suspected of inflicting a loss of 72.7 billion won to TMON, WeMakePrice and another affiliate, Interpark Commerce, through unfair intergroup transactions.
Earlier, the prosecution requested arrest warrants for the three, but the court rejected them each time. (Yonhap)