Police have searched and seized bank accounts of people linked to allegations surrounding a land development project in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.

A team of investigators at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency told reporters on Tuesday that they launched the effort on Tuesday but stopped short of elaborating on whose accounts they confiscated. 

The move came after the team issued travel bans for eight people last week, including Kim Man-bae, the biggest shareholder of asset management firm, Hwacheon Daeyu.

Lee Seong-moon, the former chief at the company that has been at the crux of the scandal, has also been prohibited from leaving the country.

Currently, the team is looking into three allegations, including the tracing of a suspicious flow of funds between Kim and Lee, which previously had been handled by police at Seoul’s Yongsan District.

The task force is also looking into claims by civic groups of alleged improprieties in the land development project's approval process and determining dividends. Hwacheon Daeyu's five-billion-won severance payout to the son of Rep. Kwak Sang-do, formerly of the People Power Party, is also under investigation.