[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Kim Bong-hyun, former chairman of Star Mobility and the 'mastermind' behind the Lime Asset Management fund redemption suspension incident, is reportedly refusing to comply with the prosecution's summons investigation related to the 'prosecutor entertainment allegations' as of the 20th.
According to the legal community, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office notified Kim's side of a summons investigation yesterday afternoon to probe lobbying-related allegations raised in a 'prison letter.' However, Kim's side stated that they had already sufficiently explained their position during the Ministry of Justice's inspection investigation and indicated that they would not provide statements related to lobbying in the existing investigative team's inquiry.
The Ministry of Justice reportedly conducted several meetings with Kim at the detention center over three days following the release of his statement and identified some individuals, including prosecutors named as recipients of entertainment, and requested an investigation by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office. Regarding this, Park Soon-chul, head of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, appeared at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee audit on the same day and said, "The Ministry of Justice requested an investigation, and we formed an investigative team at the Southern District Prosecutors' Office."
In a previously released statement through his lawyer, Kim claimed, "In July last year, through lawyer A, a former prosecutor, I entertained three active prosecutors with alcohol worth about 10 million won," adding, "At the time of the gathering, I was introduced to them as prosecutors who would later join the Lime investigation team, and in fact, one of them participated in the investigation team."
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