[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The prosecution investigating the 'Seongnam FC sponsorship fund' allegations on the 30th indicted the former Doosan Construction CEO and a Seongnam city official on bribery charges.
The Criminal Division 3 of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Seongnam Branch (Chief Prosecutor Yoo Min-jong) filed non-custodial indictments against former Doosan Construction CEO Mr. A for bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, and former Seongnam City Strategic Promotion Team Leader Mr. B for bribery offering.
The prosecution applied third-party bribery charges regarding Mr. B, who, during Lee Jae-myung's tenure as Seongnam mayor, allegedly caused Doosan Construction, which had pending permits and approvals with Seongnam City, to provide 5 billion KRW to Seongnam FC.
Mr. A is accused of paying approximately 5.5 billion KRW in advertising sponsorship funds at the time and receiving preferential treatment in changing the land use of about 3,000 pyeong of hospital site in Jeongja-dong, Bundang-gu, owned by the Doosan Group, to commercial land in return.
At that time, Seongnam City increased the floor area ratio, building scale, and total floor area by about three times and accepted only 10% of the total site area as a donation, raising suspicions that Doosan gained enormous profits.
The 'Seongnam FC allegations' were first raised in 2018 when the Bareunmirae Party filed a criminal complaint, claiming that Lee, as Seongnam mayor and club owner of Seongnam FC, secured large sponsorship funds from companies in exchange for resolving corporate issues.
In fact, after the Seongnam Ilhwa football team was rebranded as the citizen football team Seongnam FC and Lee became the club owner, six companies within Seongnam City?Doosan Construction, Naver, NongHyup, Bundang CHA Hospital, Hyundai Department Store, and Alpha Dome City?provided a total of 16.05 billion KRW to Seongnam FC from 2015 to 2017 under sponsorship and advertising fees.
In June 2018, the Bareunmirae Party reported Lee to the prosecution (Seongnam Branch) on charges of third-party bribery. The implication was that, similar to how several large corporations provided substantial sponsorship funds to the Mir Foundation and K-Sports Foundation during former President Park Geun-hye's administration, these companies owning major facilities in Seongnam City might have supported Seongnam FC indirectly as a means to expect issue resolution through Lee or as a quid pro quo for resolving specific civil complaints such as building permits or land use changes.
Earlier, the police investigating the case concluded that from 2016 to 2018, Lee secured about 5.5 billion KRW in advertising sponsorship funds from Doosan Construction and, in return, changed the land use of approximately 3,000 pyeong of hospital site in Jeongja-dong, Bundang-gu, owned by the Doosan Group, to commercial land. On the 13th, the police sent the case to the prosecution with a recommendation to indict Lee, one Seongnam city official, and the former Doosan Construction CEO.
At that time, Seongnam City increased the floor area ratio, building scale, and total floor area by about three times and accepted only 10% of the total site area as a donation, which the police judged to have provided enormous benefits to Doosan.
However, while the police found no charges against the other five companies?Naver, NongHyup Bank, CHA Hospital, Alpha Dome City, and Hyundai Department Store?that provided advertising sponsorship funds to Seongnam FC besides Doosan Construction, the prosecution recently expanded the investigation, including raiding CHA Hospital, which the police had cleared of suspicion.
The prosecution's investigation into Lee is ongoing.
This indictment of related parties concerning the 'Seongnam FC' allegations comes eight months after the controversy over the alleged 'investigation cover-up' by Park Eun-jung, then head of the Seongnam Branch (currently Chief of the Major Economic Crime Investigation Division at Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office), in January.
During the Moon Jae-in administration, Park, considered a representative pro-government prosecutor who acted as a key ally of former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae amid the disciplinary proceedings against then Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, was suspected of ignoring the investigative team's opinion that 'supplementary investigation was necessary.' At that time, Park Ha-young, deputy chief prosecutor of the Seongnam Branch, expressed opposition to Park's inappropriate conduct and even tendered his resignation.
Park is currently under investigation for allegedly providing Ministry of Justice and Supreme Prosecutors' Office data, obtained under the pretext of inspecting Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon related to the 'Channel A case' in October 2010, without authorization to the Ministry of Justice Inspection Committee, which was conducting an inspection of then Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, now President Yoon Seok-youl.
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