Prosecutors have indicted Kim Man-bae, a key figure in the Daejang-dong development scandal, on charges of concealing profits from a crime.

According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on Wednesday, the biggest shareholder of asset management firm Hwacheon Daeyu is accused of hiding checks worth 39 billion won in profits in connection to the development project between October 2021 and November 2022.

Between July and October 2021, he allegedly purchased agricultural land under his and his wife's name and asked an acquaintance to conceal a check valued at 14-point-two billion won last December, ahead of the court's expected preservation of assets for forfeiture.

Kim is also suspected of ordering an interior business owner to discard his mobile phone containing evidence linked to the project in September 2021.

He was previously arrested in 2021 and released about a year later on charges of breach of trust and embezzlement regarding the development project.