▲ Kim Se-ui, CEO of Hover Lab
Prosecutors have partially frozen the assets of Kim Se-ui, CEO of Hover Lab, who was indicted and detained on charges including defaming actor Kim Soo-hyun.
The Criminal Proceeds Recovery Department of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (led by Senior Prosecutor So Jeong-su) completed the registration for the preservation of provisional seizure on land owned by Kim on the 10th.
Asset preservation is a measure that temporarily blocks criminal suspects from concealing or disposing of profits gained from illegal acts prior to a final court ruling.
Kim is accused of spreading false information via YouTube and other platforms claiming that Kim Soo-hyun had a relationship with actor Kim Sae-ron when she was a minor, and that pressure from Kim Soo-hyun's side regarding debt repayment was the direct cause of Kim Sae-ron's death.
Previously, the police applied for asset preservation concerning only 5.44 million won in criminal proceeds, but the court dismissed the application last June, stating that "the proceeds acquired are minor compared to the value of the real estate, making preservation unnecessary."
Believing that Kim had pocketed a larger amount of criminal proceeds, prosecutors tracked all donation accounts of Hover Lab, conducted reference witness questioning of Hover Lab associates, and performed asset searches.
As a result, they determined that Kim earned a total of approximately 169.4 million won—at least 54.4 million won in donations and at least 115 million won in advertisements—through YouTube content.
Subsequently, prosecutors directly filed for asset preservation and obtained an approval ruling from the court.
An official from the prosecutors' office stated, "After next month on the 2nd, when the prosecutors' office is abolished and the prosecution service is launched, it will be impossible for prosecutors to conduct investigations such as reference witness questioning and account tracking for the preservation of criminal proceeds like in this case," adding, "We will do our utmost to eliminate the fundamental incentives for crime through the thorough deprivation of criminal proceeds until the very end."
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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