Prosecutors Freeze 5 Billion Won Retirement Pay of Gwak Sang-do's Son from Hwacheon Daeyu... 10 Bank Accounts Blocked

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution investigating allegations of preferential treatment and lobbying in the Daejang-dong development has frozen 5 billion KRW received by Byeong-chae, the son of independent lawmaker Kwak Sang-do, from Hwacheon Daeyu, preventing him from disposing of the funds.

According to the legal community on the 26th, the Seoul Central District Court recently accepted the seizure preservation request from the dedicated investigation team of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, targeting up to 5 billion KRW of assets belonging to lawmaker Kwak and Byeong-chae. As a result, 10 bank accounts under Byeong-chae's name have been blocked.

The court judged, "There is substantial reason to believe that lawmaker Kwak obtained illegal assets through violations of the Political Funds Act and bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, in collusion with Byeong-chae, and that these assets should be confiscated."

It also stated, "There is concern that the enforcement of the confiscation trial may become impossible or significantly difficult in the future."

Seizure preservation is a procedure that freezes suspected proceeds of crime until the defendants are found guilty. With this measure, lawmaker Kwak and Byeong-chae are unable to arbitrarily dispose of assets presumed to be criminal proceeds.

The court decided to freeze the amount currently in Byeong-chae's accounts and any future deposits until the total reaches the expected confiscation amount of 5 billion KRW.

The prosecution suspects that Hwacheon Daeyu received various conveniences during the Daejang-dong development project from lawmaker Kwak, who was formerly the Blue House Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs and a member of the National Assembly's Education, Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, and in return, paid 5 billion KRW to Kwak's son after the fact.

However, in a recent investigation, Byeong-chae denied the allegations, stating, "My father was unaware of the severance pay, and although the amount seems large to the public, it was compensation including consolation money due to work-related injuries while working at the company."