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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Executives of Qoo10, including CEO Ku Young-bae, denied all charges in their first court hearing related to an additional fraud indictment stemming from the large-scale settlement delays involving TMON and WeMakePrice.
The Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 24, presided over by Judge Lee Young-sun, held the first trial on April 21 for Ku and seven other current and former executives, including former TMON CEO Ryu Kwang-jin and former WeMakePrice CEO Ryu Hwa-hyun, on charges of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.
The defendants are accused of deceiving sellers into believing that settlement payments would be made, despite Qoo10’s inability to fulfill such obligations, and thereby obtaining approximately KRW 844 million. All defendants stated that they deny the allegations outlined in the indictment.
The court decided to consolidate this case with an ongoing trial related to the broader TMON–WeMakePrice settlement crisis.
Previously, Ku and the other executives were indicted in December 2024 on charges including embezzling approximately KRW 1.85 trillion in settlement funds owed to sellers on TMON and WeMakePrice, as well as misappropriating around KRW 100 billion from affiliated companies under the guise of loans or consulting fees.
Prosecutors later identified the additional KRW 800 million fraud charges while investigating complaints filed by victims and brought the new indictment last month. Separately, Ku and the former CEOs are also on trial for failing to pay approximately KRW 5.62 billion in wages to 613 employees and about KRW 20.74 billion in severance pay to 733 workers.
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
