Suspected 'Ssangbangwool Bribery' Puts Lee Hwa-young's Detention at Crossroads... "Denies Charges"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The decision on whether to detain Lee Hwayoung, CEO of Kintex (former Deputy Governor for Peace of Gyeonggi Province), who is accused of receiving bribes worth hundreds of millions of won from Ssangbangwool Group, will be made on the 27th.

At around 9:40 a.m. that day, Lee appeared at the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon City, Gyeonggi Province for a pre-detention warrant hearing (pre-arrest interrogation). When asked by reporters whether he admitted the charges, he replied, "I do not admit the charges." When asked "why he used the corporate card," he answered, "I did not use it," and added, "I will clear up the misunderstanding and come out to state my position."

The detention hearing for Lee, held at the Suwon District Court at 10:30 a.m., will be presided over by Judge Kim Kyungrok, who is in charge of warrants. On the 23rd, the prosecution requested a pre-arrest warrant for Lee on charges of bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and violations of the Political Funds Act.

Lee served as an outside director of Ssangbangwool from March 2017 to June 2018. Subsequently, from August 2018 to January 2020, he served as Deputy Governor for Peace of Gyeonggi Province. The prosecution believes that from the time Lee held the Deputy Governor position until earlier this year, he received about 200 million won in bribes from Ssangbangwool under the pretext of using a corporate card.

In relation to this, on the 7th, the prosecution conducted searches and seizures at Lee’s residence, Kintex, Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office, and the Asia-Pacific Peace Exchange Association. On the 18th, Lee was summoned for investigation.

The prosecution also believes that A, a close aide of Lee, received about 90 million won in salary from Ssangbangwool despite not actually working. A pre-arrest warrant was requested for A the day before, but in the early hours of the 24th, the court dismissed it, stating that "the necessity of detention or concerns about flight risk and evidence tampering were not sufficiently demonstrated."

B, the vice chairman of Ssangbangwool, who was also subject to a pre-arrest warrant for bribing Lee and others, will undergo the detention hearing together with Lee on the same day. The decision on their detention is expected to be made late that night.