Rhyme Fund Designer Lee Jong-pil and Backer Jeonju (錢主) Kim Bong-hyun Arrested... Lobbying Investigation Expected to Accelerate
Yesterday's Financial Services Commission Raid Also Aimed to Secure Data Related to Former Blue House Administrator
[Asia Economy Reporters Seokjin Choi and Hyungmin Kim] With the main figures in the 'Lime Asset Management' case all apprehended, the possibility of the prosecution's investigation expanding into political lobbying has significantly increased. This could be an opportunity for Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, who is in a difficult position due to pressure to resign after the general election, to assert his presence, drawing great attention to the direction of the investigation.
According to the police on the 24th, the Intelligent Crime Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency arrested former Lime Asset Management Vice President Lee Jong-pil (42) and Star Mobility Chairman Kim Bong-hyun (46), who had been on the run after going into hiding, near a villa in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, the previous afternoon. Lee, the former vice president, was the mastermind behind the design and operation of the Lime fund, while Chairman Kim is known as the financier behind the Lime fund.
Chairman Kim is also involved in cases separate from the Lime incident and will be investigated by the police for the time being. Meanwhile, former Vice President Lee, who is detained at the Southern Detention Center, is expected to undergo a full-scale prosecution investigation starting as early as today.
The investigation into the financial scandal has progressed to some extent. The Criminal Division 6 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Jo Sang-won), which is investigating the case, has indicted former Shinhan Financial Investment PBS Head Lim, who is accused of concealing the Lime fund's insolvency and selling the product, and former Lime Asset Management Alternative Investment Operations Head Kim, who is accused of aiding Chairman Kim's embezzlement and receiving golf club memberships, both in custody.
Accordingly, the investigation into power corruption, which had struggled to find a breakthrough, is expected to gain momentum with the securing of the custody of former Vice President Lee and Chairman Kim.
Even before the prosecution's investigation began, suspicions of involvement by the power elite in the Lime scandal were continuously raised. The fact that many securities firms sold the Lime fund, which focused on abnormal assets, on a large scale is highly unusual, and the financial sector has analyzed that this would have been impossible without assistance from government officials.
It has already been reported through the media that former Vice President Lee and others allegedly embezzled hundreds of billions of won for lobbying funds even after redemptions were suspended. A recording was released revealing that former Blue House administrative officer Kim, who was previously detained, attempted to cover up the Lime scandal, raising suspicions of involvement by higher-ups in the Blue House.
Former Administrative Officer Kim is accused of leaking inspection information about Lime Asset Management from the authorities to his friend, former Chairman Kim, while working at the Blue House, and receiving bribes worth tens of millions of won in return. The prosecution's raid on the Financial Services Commission's Asset Management Division the day before also appears to have been aimed at securing materials related to former Administrative Officer Kim. Furthermore, there are indications that government officials helped former Vice President Lee and Chairman Kim evade capture.
Meanwhile, Prosecutor General Yoon is reportedly receiving face-to-face reports every two weeks from Song Sam-hyun, head of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office and a classmate from the Judicial Research and Training Institute, personally overseeing the Lime investigation. If the remaining investigation uncovers links to the power elite, it is expected that Yoon, who has recently faced difficulties with the indictment of his mother-in-law and wife and the involvement of a close prosecutor chief in the 'prosecutor-media collusion' scandal, will secure a turnaround card.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
