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The Seoul Central District Court granted arrest warrants for Lone Star vice chairman Ellis Short and Lone Star's legal advisor Michael Thompson on Thursday after twice rejecting prosecutors¡¯ warrant requests. The offshore investment firm is accused of spreading false rumors of a capital reduction of Korea Exchange Bank¡¯s credit card unit in order to lower the unit¡¯s stock value to enable a discounted take-over of the bank in November 2003.
An arrest warrant request against another suspect, Lone Star Advisors Korea head Yoo Hoe-won was rejected.
Judge Min Byung-hun said that he handed down the warrants after considering strong evidence supporting the suspects¡¯ crime, which is punishable in the U.S. as well as Korea. The judge rejected a warrant request for Yoo, as there was no chance he would flee or destroy evidence. With the arrest warrants issued, prosecutors will soon seek the extradition of the two embattled executives.
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Finance union workers shout slogans during a rally against the offshore private equity group Lone Star in front of the company¡¯s law advisors office in Seoul on Thursday./AP
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Prosecutors are appealing against the court¡¯s decision against the arrest of Yoo, following its refusal to issue a warrant for former director-general of the Finance Ministry¡¯s Financial Policy Bureau Byeon Yang-ho. Senior prosecutor Chae Dong-wook said that he couldn¡¯t understand why the court rejected requests for Yoo and Byeon, who had assumedly played a key role in the sale of KEB. The court¡¯s refusal could prompt the early closure of the prosecutors' investigation, he said.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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