Citizen Groups File Complaints Against Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol and Others Over Alleged Negligence in Optimus Investigation

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Yoon Seok-ryeol, then head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and now Prosecutor General, has been accused in connection with the alleged inadequate investigation into the Optimus Asset Management (Optimus) scandal.

The civic group Judicial Justice Restoration Citizens' Action (Sasehaeng) announced on the 29th that they filed a complaint with the Central District Prosecutors' Office against Prosecutor General Yoon, Deputy Prosecutor General Lee Doo-bong, and Kim Yoo-cheol, head of the Wonju branch of the Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office, on charges of abuse of authority and dereliction of duty. At the time, Lee served as the first deputy chief prosecutor of the Central District Prosecutors' Office, and Kim was the head of the 7th Criminal Division responsible for the investigation.

Sasehaeng stated, "The accused were the investigation team that handled the Optimus fund money case, which was referred for investigation by the Korea Radio Promotion Association to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on October 24, 2018, and subsequently dismissed it without charges," adding, "Because the Optimus case was dismissed without charges at that time, a tragedy occurred in which numerous public institutions and many citizens, including ministers, suffered fund fraud damages."

Regarding Prosecutor General Yoon, they emphasized, "This case involved an amount exceeding 5 billion KRW and was a matter requiring deputy chief prosecutor's approval. It is highly likely that Yoon, as the then head of the district prosecutors' office, was informed about the Optimus case, which required deputy chief prosecutor's approval," and added, "Despite being informed, failing to conduct a proper investigation constitutes intentional dereliction of duty by the head of the district prosecutors' office."

They further stated, "There is reasonable suspicion that this was due to an improper request from lawyer Lee Kyu-cheol, who worked closely with the Park Young-soo special prosecutor team during the political scandal," and added, "This constitutes a violation of the Kim Young-ran Act." Lawyer Lee Kyu-cheol served as an advisor and defense attorney for Optimus.