Arrest warrant issued for ferry owner's son for embezzlement

Yonhap News Agency/July 28, 2014

Incheon -- A local court issued a warrant Monday to formally arrest the detained son of the owner of the ill-fated ferry Sewol on charges of embezzlement that the authorities say was partly to blame for April's deadly sinking.

Yoo Dae-kyun, 44, the eldest son of Yoo Byung-eun who owned Chonghaejin Marine Co., was indicted on charges of misappropriating about 9.9 billion won (US$9.6 million) of funds of the ferry operator and its affiliates.

After reviewing the validity of a request for detention filed Sunday by the prosecution, the Incheon District Court issued the warrant to detain the junior Yoo.

He was captured last week at a small studio apartment in Yongin, just south of Seoul, where he had been hiding, after being pursued by the authorities since the ferry capsized on April 16 leaving more than 300 people dead or missing.

The court allowed the detainment of Park Soo-kyung, a 34-year-old female bodyguard, who was also caught along with him after being on the lam for months.

Their arrests came days after the elder Yoo, also a key member of a Christian religious sect, was found dead in a plum field in the southern city of Suncheon. The 73-year-old tycoon had been on the wanted list on multiple charges of corruption in business operations as he pursued profit at the expense of passenger safety, ultimately causing the tragedy.

Many of the billionaire's other family members, including his wife and elder brother, have been arrested since the ferry tragedy on similar embezzlement charges, while Yoo's daughter, Som-na, has been fighting an extradition bid from Paris, and his second son, Hyuk-ki, is hiding abroad.

Meanwhile, Kim Myung-sook, one of the closest aides to the elder Yoo, and Yoo Hee-ja, a wife of the billionaire's driver, turned themselves in to the prosecution early Monday.

Kim, who has long been regarded as a godmother of the religious sect, was suspected of playing a key role in an organized plan to help the tycoon hide from police since late May, including raising fund for his escape, preparing a hideout and analyzing the authorities' manhunt operations, according to the Incheon Prosecutors' Office.

The driver's wife is suspected of providing the billionaire with a hideout. Before moving into his vacation home in Suncheon in May, Yoo had stayed for about 10 days at the residence of the driver's wife's younger sister.

The driver, surnamed Yang, however, remains unaccounted for after disappearing around end-May, according to prosecutors. He is also suspected of helping the tycoon seek refuge.

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