By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Police are investigating a 51-year-old woman suspected of having swindled billions of won from the members of a ``gye,'' a traditional Korean mutual savings union formed mainly among housewives. Police asked a court to issue an arrest warrant Thursday.
The woman, identified only as Yun, ran a large-scale gye named ``Dabokhoe,'' among wealthy residents in Gangnam, southern Seoul, with monthly installments from members ranging between one million won and 25 million won. The total funds she managed from the exclusive private savings group could be as much as 220 billion won ($200 million). Among 300 members, four to five well-known entertainers are included but there are no ranking government officials, police said, citing Yoon's testimony.
The probe started after two members filed complaints against Yun, claiming she did not pay them 200 million won, even after the maturity of the ``fund.'' Other members also plan to file complaints against her.
Yun presented herself to police Wednesday and said she will also file a counter complaint against some members of the gye, claiming they abducted and blackmailed her in order to take over control of the lucrative savings union. She claimed that she did not swindle or embezzle money from any members.
In mutual financing societies, usually formed between friends, members pay a specific amount of money every month and after a certain period, one of them can use the accumulated funds on a rotation basis. Dabokhoe, meaning a gathering of lots of luck, first appeared in the public eye last week when some 100 middle-aged women driving luxury imported cars gathered at a restaurant in Dogok-dong, Gangnam, to discuss action against Yun.
Most members did not know each other, as the society was managed secretly. It is estimated that one member invested between 100 million won and one billion won.
Yun organized Dabokheo in 2001 with entertainers and wives of professionals whom she became acquainted with while running an interior design business in southern Seoul in the late 1990s.
She had famous entertainers join the group in order to gain the trust of other members. ``Being a club member meant being high class,'' a police officer said. New members were accepted only through existing members' recommendations. Members did not know about the scope of the organization.
A lawyer for 135 members of the gye claimed they obtained a list of the entire membership and their cell phone numbers from Yun's office, adding it included politicians, doctors, lawyers and generals. Police are investigating the list.