[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Shin Seong-sik) will investigate the case in which the opposition party filed a complaint against Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, and his wife Kim Hye-kyung, regarding allegations of 'gapjil protocol' and 'misuse of corporate credit cards.'
On the 7th, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office transferred the case to the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office. The case involves Lee, Kim, a former Gyeonggi Provincial Government official Bae, who is suspected of ordering Kim to perform personal errands, Baek, Lee's secretary during his tenure as mayor of Seongnam, a doctor from the Gyeonggi Provincial Government medical office, and two others. They were reported by the People Power Party to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on charges including abuse of authority.
Earlier, on the 3rd, the People Power Party accused Kim of mobilizing public officials for personal errands such as food delivery and household chores, paying for personal meals with the Gyeonggi Province corporate card, and illegally issuing prescriptions under others' names. They filed complaints against the five individuals on charges including abuse of authority, coercion, violation of medical laws, forgery of official documents, use of forged official documents, loss of state funds, obstruction of business, and destruction of evidence.
Within legal circles, concerns have been raised about whether a proper investigation will be conducted by the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office, led by Chief Prosecutor Shin Seong-sik, who is considered to have a pro-government inclination.
Recently, Chief Prosecutor Shin was instructed by Prosecutor General Kim Oh-soo to investigate allegations of 'investigation cover-up' by Park Eun-jung, head of the Seongnam branch, related to the 'Seongnam FC sponsorship' case involving Lee. However, it was revealed that even two weeks after the allegations surfaced, no statements had been taken from members of the investigation team, sparking controversy.
Meanwhile, the case in which a civic group filed a complaint against Park, head of the Seongnam branch, for allegedly covering up the Seongnam FC investigation has been assigned to the Anti-Corruption and Strong Investigation Division 2 (Chief Prosecutor Jo Ju-yeon) at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.
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