Nine ex-CEOs of Daewoo to be busted

Prosecutors have discovered that Daewoo Group took out illegal loans of more than 10 trillion won from banks by falsifying financial records to the tune of about 23 trillion won, which they believe was conducted under the guidance of former Chairman Kim Woo-Choong. Kim is currently staying in an unknown location overseas to avoid prosecution.

The Supreme District Prosecutor¡¯s Office (SDPO) said Thursday that it would arrest nine former and incumbent executives of five Daewoo subsidiaries and accountants of the firms. Arrest warrants on fraud charges were sought for Chon Ju-Bom and Yang Jae-Yol, former presidents of Daewoo Electronics, and Yoo Ki-Bom, president of Daewoo Telecom.

The prosecution also sought an arrest warrant for Kim Se-Kyong, an accountant, on bribery charges. According to the prosecution, Kim rigged the accounting books of Daewoo Telecom and amassed a combined 47 million won from its former president on four separate occasions.

The SDPO also summoned 10 other officials of Daewoo subsidiaries for questioning and plans to seek arrest warrants for five of them. They include Kang Byong-Ho, former president of Daewoo Corp. and Daewoo Motor, Chang Byong-Joo, former president of Daewoo Corp., Kim Tae-Ku, former president of Daewoo Motor, and Chu Ho-Sok, former president of Daewoo Heavy Industries.

Accusing former chairman Kim of creating a secret fund of more than 10 trillion won by stashing away some of the group¡¯s 15 trillion won in overseas loans, the prosecution also plans to trace the source of the funds in the near future.