[단독] Sebotech director Kang Mo emerges as a point man in tracking Optimus’ cash flow

Check-in 2020.11.12 06:00

He was known as ‘Director of Sebotech’ …
Haeduk Powerway Senior Manager and President of the Trading Company
It seems that the arrest will be decided late in the afternoon of the 12th.

In relation to the Optimus funds fraud case, Sebotech CEO Kang Mo, who requested an arrest warrant from the prosecution, emerged as a ‘point man’ to investigate Optimus’ flow of funds. It was confirmed that Mr. Kang served as head of the planning and coordination department at Haeduk Powerway, where Optimus conducted a non-equity merger and acquisition, and served as chairman of Company M, which is a Sebotech trading company and the prosecution recently conducted a seizure search. The link between Haeduk Powerway, Sebotech and Company M was revealed, which is noted as the channel through which Optimus funds flowed.

According to law enforcement officials on the 12th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office of the Department of Economic and Criminal Crimes (Chief Prosecutor Min-cheol Jo) is tracking the flow of funds by examining the accounts of corporations and individuals involved with Optimus. In this process, Kang is said to have emerged as a point man.

Kang was known only as the CEO of Sebo Tech, but from the end of 2018 to the beginning of this year, he also worked as the head of the planning and coordination department at Haeduk Powerway. In addition, he was also president of the trading company Sebotech M Company, which was seized and searched by the prosecution on 28 last month in connection with the Optimus funds fraud case.

Haeduck Powerway is one of the exits from which hundreds of billions of billions of dollars in funds raised by Optimus have escaped. The prosecution is looking for the whereabouts of funds that have been deposited in personal accounts of Optimus management or that have disappeared through the Paper Company. In this process, he is concentrating on investigative capabilities, as it is possible to trace the flow of funds from Optimus through Kang, a link between Sebotech and Company M, which is suspected to be an outlet from which have withdrawn funds with Haeduk Powerway. A legal official said: “There appears to be a possibility that some of the Optimus funds that flowed into Haeduk Powerway were used to acquire Company M through Sebotech.”

Kang first appeared on Haeduk Powerway around November 2018. At that time, the Optimus gang, including Optimus CEO Kim Jae-hyun, was working hard to acquire Hadeok Powerway without capital. Lee Mo, who was the head of a plastic surgery clinic in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, acquired Haeduck Powerway in April 2018, which had suffered deteriorating earnings, and after that, he will be affiliated with Optimus.

In August 2018, Lee borrowed 13 billion won from TrustAll, an Optimus affiliate, as collateral for his own stake. Since then, Haeduck Powerway will invest 37 billion won in Optimus. Lee resigned from the representative position in November 2018. It coincides with the time that Mr. Kang appeared on Haeduk Powerway. Since then, Hadeok Powerway will become the largest shareholder in Hwasung Industries, where Septillion, a subsidiary of Optimus, is the largest shareholder. This period is February 2019. President Park Mo of Hwaseong Industry, which acquired Haeduk Powerway, also requested an arrest warrant this time from the prosecution.

Kang has had enemies at Haeduk Powerway all year, and he suddenly changed his affiliation earlier this year. At the same time that he was CEO of Sebotech, a subsidiary of Haeduck Powerway, he assumed the role of president of M, a company listed on KOSDAQ. The CEO of Sebotech is Hwaseong Industry CEO Park Mo, and Company M was the largest shareholder of Chairman Oh Mo, who applied for an arrest warrant together with Kang. Sebotech is known as a subcontractor to M Company, which means that Mr. Kang is the CEO and president of two companies.

The prosecution believes that Optimus attempted to acquire M Company using Sebotech funds, just as Optimus made a non-equity M&A for Haeduck Powerway. The prosecution requested an arrest warrant for violating (embezzlement) the Law of Weighted Penalties for Specific Economic Crimes, and that day it is decided whether or not he will be arrested. Previously, on October 28, prosecutors carried out a seizure and search of the Gangnam-gu office of M Company and the residence of Mr. Oh.