Highest-Ranking Suspect Summoned by Special Investigation Unit
3 SH Employees Suspected of Accepting Bribes for Providing Information
On the 23rd, the Government Joint Special Investigation Headquarters (Special Investigation Headquarters), which is investigating allegations of real estate speculation, is conducting a search and seizure at the headquarters of Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation (SH) in relation to bribery allegations involving SH employees. Employees are seen moving busily at the SH office in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@
[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Lee Mo, a former head of the Administrative City Construction Agency (ACCA), known as the highest-ranking current or former public official involved in real estate speculation allegations, underwent nearly 14 hours of police interrogation and was sent home.
Lee appeared at the Major Crimes Investigation Division of the National Police Agency's National Investigation Headquarters around 10 a.m. on the 23rd and finished the investigation around midnight on the 24th. Although the police questioning itself ended the previous afternoon, it was reported that additional time was needed for reviewing the interrogation records.
After completing the investigation, Lee did not respond to reporters' questions about whether he admitted to the charges and left in a vehicle.
During his tenure as ACCA head in late April 2017, Lee purchased two plots of land totaling 2,455㎡ in Nulwang-ri, Yeongi-myeon, Sejong City, under his wife's name. The official land price, which was 107,000 KRW per square meter in January 2017, rose to 154,000 KRW three years later.
Subsequently, after his resignation, at the end of November 2017, he acquired 622㎡ of land and a lightweight steel structure on the site in Bongam-ri, Yeonseo-myeon, Sejong City. Controversy arose over speculation using insider information as the nearby Wachon and Budong-ri areas were slated to be designated as candidate sites for the Smart National Industrial Complex.
The ACCA head is the highest position responsible for the construction of the new city of Sejong, equivalent to a vice-ministerial level. Lee is the highest-ranking suspect summoned by the government’s Joint Special Investigation Headquarters (JSIH), which was launched to investigate real estate speculation allegations. The JSIH conducted searches and seizures at ACCA and related locations on the 26th of last month, securing relevant materials and continuing witness investigations.
Meanwhile, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency conducted searches at three locations, including the headquarters and two regional centers of the Seoul Housing and Communities Corporation (SH), starting around 9:30 a.m. the previous day. The search lasted about seven hours.
The police reportedly began the investigation after detecting suspicions that SH employees accepted bribes from real estate agents trading pre-sale rights within housing development districts while collecting intelligence related to real estate speculation.
This is the first time the police have launched a forced investigation into bribery allegations involving SH employees. So far, three suspects have been booked, all of whom are current SH employees.
Additionally, the JSIH confirmed that it conducted searches related to speculation allegations involving Kang Ki-yoon, a member of the People Power Party. On the 22nd, the Gyeongnam Police Agency searched a manufacturing company formerly led by Kang and a parts company where Kang’s wife and son are major shareholders.
This parts company purchased approximately 79,600㎡ (about 24,000 pyeong) of land at the second pier of Jinhae Port, Gyeongnam, in 2018 for 27 billion KRW, about half of the appraised value. It is suspected that the company earned around 3 billion KRW in capital gains by selling part of the land in 2019 and 2020. Kang is one of five lawmakers under investigation by the JSIH and is the first active lawmaker to undergo a forced investigation.
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