Prosecutors confirm‎ death of Korea's most notorious con man

Prosecutors concluded that Cho Hee-pal died. The Daegu District Prosecutors' Office announced Tuesday the results of its comprehensive investigation, saying the notorious con man is judged to have died and the right of arraignment will be cleared.

According to prosecutors, Cho had a drink with his secret mistress at a bar in a hotel at Weihai, a city in Shandong Province of China, on December 18, 2011, and went up to his room but vomited and collapsed. He was evacuated to a nearby hospital but died of acute myocardial infarction 15 minutes after midnight.

After probing 14 people including Cho's family and friends who were present at the scene when Cho died, prosecutors found out that the circumstances each people explained on the funeral were the same, while lie detector survey also showed they were saying the truth. Also after verifying Cho's hair taken by his cousin immediately after his death, it was confirmed as Cho's hair. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office said there was no falsification of the funeral video that Cho's family filmed.

However, despite the conclusion of his death, disputes on whether he's really dead will be raised due to the lack of a scientific basis. "The genes of Cho's remains were damaged due to high heat and thus verification is impossible," an official at prosecutors said.

Prosecutors confirmed that between June 2006 to October 2008, Cho cheated with a pyramid scheme against some 70,000 people telling them they would be guaranteed with high profits on medical device lease business. The profits he earned reached 290 billion won, and investment damage is estimated at 840 billion won. Prosecutors ordered 72 billion won to be deposited in a bank while taking preservation measures for real estate and financial accounts worth 23.2 billion won.

Prosecutors charged 71 people including the arrested 45 people for embezzlement allegations. Eight of them are from police and prosecutors. "We will cooperate for a prompt execution of money withdrawal of money for victims," an official at the prosecutors said.

대구=장영훈기자 jang@donga.com