Anchor: A Seoul court will decide on an arrest warrant for a relative of Justice Minister Cho Kuk as early as late Monday. The relative is a central figure in allegations surrounding a controversial private equity fund in which the Cho family invested in. If the warrant is issued, prosecutors will most likely summon the minister's wife this week to question her involvement in the family investment.
Choi You Sun reports.
Report: The Seoul Central District Court is holding a hearing on Monday to decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for a relative of Justice Minister Cho Kuk over allegations surrounding suspicious private equity fund investments by the Cho family.
The minister's first cousin once removed is believed to be the de facto owner of Co-Link Private Equity, the operator of a so-called "family fund" to which Cho's wife and two children, as well as the minister’s brother-in-law and his two children, invested a combined one-point-four billion won.
The relative, also surnamed Cho, is accused of running the private equity firm without officially registering as its chief executive, acquiring a listed firm without capital, rigging stock prices and embezzling billions of won from companies invested in by Co-Link.
Cho was taken into the prosecution's custody at Incheon International Airport on Saturday upon returning to South Korea after being out of the country for about a month.
Cho's family claims they made the investment on the recommendation of the cousin as Cho was banned from directly investing in stocks or funds as a senior presidential secretary at the time of the Co-Link investments in July 2017 and that they didn't know where their money was going.
However, the fund invested most of the family's money in Wealth C&T, a local lamppost switch manufacturer that saw soaring sales thanks to massive government orders.
Prosecutors found that one billion won of the company's funds were transferred to the cousin, who then withdrew the funds.
The minister's brother-in-law invested 500 million won into Co-Link with borrowed money from his sister and wife of Minister Cho, Chung Kyung-shim, raising suspicion that she may have invested in the fund under a false name.
Chung also received monthly “consulting fees” of two million won for seven months until June of this year from one of the companies invested in by Co-Link.
The focus of the prosecution's probe is whether Cho's cousin gave the minister's wife information on Wealth C&T prior to the investment and whether Chung unjustly intervened in the investment process.
If the court issues the arrest warrant for the relative, prosecutors are expected to accelerate their investigation and summon Chung for questioning as early as this week.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.