Warrant Requested Two Days After Summons on the 27th... Preliminary Hearing Scheduled for the Morning of the 1st Next Month
[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The prosecution investigating allegations of preferential treatment and lobbying in the Daejang-dong development project in Seongnam City has requested a pre-arrest warrant for former lawmaker Kwak Sang-do. The hearing will be held on the morning of the 1st of next month at 10:30 AM, two days after summoning and questioning Kwak as a suspect, and the decision on detention will be made late that evening or early the next day.
On the 29th, the dedicated investigation team at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Team Leader Kim Tae-hoon) announced that they filed a pre-arrest warrant around 4:30 PM on the same day against former lawmaker Kwak on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (acceptance of bribes for mediation).
The investigation team currently believes that in the early stages of the Daejang-dong development project in 2015, when the Hana Bank consortium involving Hwacheon Daeyu was on the verge of collapse, former lawmaker Kwak exerted influence on Hana Financial Group at the request of Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu. A recording submitted by accountant Jeong Young-hak, owner of Cheonhwa-dongin No. 5, reportedly includes content stating that "former lawmaker Kwak contacted Hana Bank at Kim Man-bae's request to help maintain the consortium."
Earlier, the investigation team summoned Kwak's son, Byung-chae, twice for questioning and recently conducted raids on Kwak's residence and office, as well as Hana Bank's headquarters. However, former lawmaker Kwak completely denied the charges over the past weekend. He has also filed an appeal against the court's decision to freeze 10 of his son's bank accounts.
The investigation team applied charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (acceptance of bribes for mediation) against former lawmaker Kwak. Under this law, acceptance of bribes for mediation is established when a third party mediates financial company business and receives or demands money or valuables. Initially, bribery charges were expected against Kwak in the early stages of the Daejang-dong scandal, but since third-party bribery requires a public official to receive bribes related to their official duties, and Kwak's influence on Hana Bank was unrelated to his official duties, the charges shifted from bribery to acceptance of bribes for mediation.
In fact, in 2015, during the early stages of the Daejang-dong development project, Kwak's position was chairman of the Korea Legal Aid Corporation, making it difficult for him to directly influence the project. However, legal circles analyze that since he previously served as the Blue House senior secretary for civil affairs, he could have exerted influence on Hana Bank regarding the Daejang-dong project.
More time is expected to be needed to prove charges against former special prosecutor Park Young-soo. Park served as a legal advisor to Hwacheon Daeyu, and his children were employed there, receiving one of the remaining apartments in the Daejang-dong project. Over the past weekend, the investigation team questioned Lee, the head of a sales agency related to Park's relatives, and Kim about the flow of funds amounting to billions of won, but Park reportedly maintained that there were no illegal financial transactions.
Additionally, the police plan to request an arrest warrant for former Seongnam City Council Chairman Choi Yoon-gil, who is suspected of accepting bribes from the Daejang-dong developers. Choi was actively involved in the establishment of the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation in February 2013, which enabled the Daejang-dong development. The police believe that Choi led the passage of the ordinance establishing the corporation in the city council plenary session and, after resigning as a council member, worked as an executive at Hwacheon Daeyu, receiving tens of billions of won in performance bonuses as compensation.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
