Prosecutors allege 1 trillion won accounting fraud in Homeplus case

(Chosun Biz, Jan. 12, 2026)

Prosecutors currently investigating the Homeplus Co. case were said on the 11th to have applied an additional charge of accounting fraud worth about 1 trillion won in the arrest warrants they sought on the 7th for MBK Partners and related Homeplus Co. executives, on top of the previously known charges of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes and violations of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (fraudulent unfair trading).

According to legal sources that day, prosecutors believe that just before MBK filed for corporate rehabilitation for Homeplus Co., it violated accounting standards by treating a liability as capital while changing the holder of the redemption rights for 1.1 trillion won in redeemable convertible preferred shares (RCPS) from Korea Retail Investment, a special-purpose company (SPC), to Homeplus Co. RCPS are capital securities that have the characteristics of both stocks and bonds.

Prosecutors were also said to have determined that Homeplus Co.’s asset revaluation of its owned land in May last year, which inflated asset value to about 700 billion won, likewise constituted accounting fraud. They say this accounting treatment artificially lowered Homeplus Co.’s liability ratio, and based on that, Homeplus Co. applied to the court for corporate rehabilitation.

※ Please refer to the article: Prosecutors allege 1 trillion won accounting fraud in Homeplus case – Chosun Biz