Arrest Warrant for Cha Ga-won Rejected Again; Who Benefits from the 'Prosecution-Police Tug-of-War'?

The police have applied for an arrest warrant for Cha Ga-won, CEO of the entertainment agency One Hundred Label, twice over allegations of fraud involving 30 billion won, but the prosecution has rejected both requests.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office returned the arrest warrant for CEO Cha, which was resubmitted by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Financial Crime Investigation Unit on June 15, on Thursday.

It is reported that the prosecution requested additional investigation, citing the need to supplement the composition of the criminal charges against CEO Cha.

Earlier this month, the police had already applied for an arrest warrant for CEO Cha once before, and it was belatedly discovered that the prosecution had returned that warrant as well at the time.

Hyun Dong-yeop, an attorney at the law firm Hwageum representing CEO Cha, stated, "Similar to the investigation into HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, we express concern over the Financial Crime Investigation Unit's practice of repeatedly applying for warrants," adding, "It is time for the head of the Financial Crime Investigation Unit to provide human rights-friendly investigative guidance."

CEO Cha is accused of receiving 24.2 billion won in advance payments after proposing a business using the intellectual property (IP) of artists under her agency to the company Nomus and signing a contract, but failing to actually carry out the business.

The police believe that CEO Cha signed a double contract with Nomus while hiding the fact that a pre-existing contract with another company was unlikely to be terminated, and that she was not prepared to execute the business.

Previously, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Financial Crime Investigation Unit also requested arrest warrants twice for HYBE Chairman Bang Si-hyuk, who is suspected of fraudulent and unfair trading under the Capital Markets Act, but both were rejected.

At the time, the prosecution, which returned the warrants, stated that the police had failed to fulfill the requirements for supplementary investigation.

With the prosecution rejecting all four arrest warrants requested by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Financial Crime Investigation Unit across the two cases, some are pointing out that this may be a sign of a tug-of-war between the prosecution and the police ahead of the "investigative power adjustment," which centers on the potential abolition of the prosecution service.

As the securing of suspects in major cases is delayed, the investigations themselves have hit a snag.

In the case of Chairman Bang, the investigation has effectively stalled without further summons or questioning following the rejection of the arrest warrants. Similarly, as the case against CEO Cha has faced hurdles twice, it is expected that it will take a long time to prove the charges.

Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Seo Byeong-uk | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.