[Sportschosun Lee Ji-hyun] The arrest warrant that police reapplied for against Cha Ga-won, chairman of PIAK Group and CEO of One Hundred, who is accused of fraud involving more than 30 billion won, was rejected again by prosecutors.
According to the legal community on the 18th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office returned the warrant request that the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Metropolitan Investigation Unit Financial Crime Investigation Team had resubmitted that day on charges including fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.
Prosecutors reportedly asked police to conduct supplementary investigations into the elements of the alleged crime. As a result, the warrant request for Cha was rejected twice in a row this month.
Earlier this month, police had also sought an arrest warrant for Cha, but prosecutors sent it back, citing the need for additional investigation. Police then carried out further inquiries and reapplied for the warrant on the 15th, only to receive the same decision.
Cha is accused of proposing a business deal to Nomus that used the intellectual property rights of artists affiliated with the entertainment agency he runs, signing a contract, receiving a large advance payment, and then failing to carry out the project.
Police are focusing on the possibility that Cha failed to properly disclose important matters that could have affected the business, including existing contractual relationships, when signing the deal with Nomus. Investigators are also looking into whether the contract was concluded before sufficient preparations had been made to actually carry out the business.
Nomus claims it suffered damages worth about 30 billion won from the contract, and police are examining signs that an advance payment of about 24.2 billion won was made.
Cha's side, however, denies all allegations.
Hyun Dong-yeop, Cha's legal representative at Hwagum Law Firm, said, "The complaint itself does not constitute a crime," and added, "Repeated warrant requests premised on detention could infringe on the suspect's basic rights." He also stated, "We are concerned about the Metropolitan Investigation Unit's practice of filing warrant requests."
olzllovely@sportschosun.com
