Prosecutors searched the headquarters of Tmon and WeMakePrice in Seoul on Thursday as part of an investigation into the e-commerce platforms’ delayed payments to their vendors amid a persisting liquidity crisis surrounding both companies.

According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, an investigation team searched the headquarters of Tmon and WeMakePrice on Thursday, along with seven other related offices.

The investigators also searched the homes of three executive members, including Ku Young-bae, the CEO of the two e-commerce platforms’ parent company Qoo10, as well as the residences of Tmon CEO Ryu Gwang-jin and WeMakePrice CEO Ryu Hwa-hyeon. The investigation team seized accounting documents and digital devices, including computer hard drives and cellphones.

The prosecution has also accused Ku of fraud, embezzlement and breach of trust.

Thursday’s raid operation follows the establishment of a dedicated investigation unit on Monday to address a liquidity crisis involving the three companies.

Both Tmon and WeMakePrice are suspected of maintaining contracts with their sellers and concealing their financial issues and potential crises in seller payouts while running their e-commerce platforms. As a result, both companies suffered a massive cash crunch, having failed to disburse earnings owed to sellers for purchases made on their platforms since May. As unpaid sellers began to leave the platforms, many customers who purchased products and services had trouble obtaining refunds.

The Financial Supervisory Service estimates that as of July 25, overdue payments from the two e-commerce platforms could total up to 170 billion won ($124 million), including 109.7 billion won for Tmon and 56.6 billion won for WeMakePrice.

Investigators are also looking into allegations surrounding the executives, claiming that the executives unlawfully misused consumer funds -- including what should have been refunded -- for business expansion.

On Friday, prosecutors began a preliminary investigation and sought travel restrictions on four key suspects of the liquidity crisis, including CEO Ku of Qoo10 -- which was later approved by the Justice Ministry on Monday.

A full-scale investigation was also launched on Monday on Tmon and WeMakePrice’s failure to address the seller-payout crisis after the two companies filed for receivership with the Seoul Bankruptcy Court on the same day.

Based on the digital devices and documents that were seized during Thursday’s raid, prosecutors will trace the internal cash flow to determine how consumer funds were spent and the current status of such funds. Ku and other executives will also be summoned for further questioning.