On the 22nd, the prosecution indicted Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, in connection with the 'Wirye and Daejang-dong development corruption' and the 'Seongnam FC illegal sponsorship fund' cases. This comes one year and six months after the investigation into the Daejang-dong corruption began in September 2021.
Five Charges Applied... 42.8 Billion Won Bribery Agreement Excluded
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Eom Hee-jun) and Division 3 (Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin) indicted Lee without detention on five charges. Regarding the Daejang-dong development corruption case, they applied charges of breach of trust under the Specific Economic Crimes Act and violation of the Public Official Conflict of Interest Prevention Act. For the Wirye New Town development preferential treatment case, they applied charges of violation of the Anti-Corruption Act, and for the Seongnam FC illegal sponsorship fund case, charges of third-party bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and violation of the Act on the Regulation of Concealment of Criminal Proceeds were applied.
However, the prosecution decided not to include the charge related to the suspicion of a '42.8 billion won bribery agreement' (accepting bribes after wrongful acts) in the indictment and will continue investigating it. This suspicion involves Lee allegedly providing preferential treatment to private developers in Daejang-dong and, in return, promising through close aides to receive 42.8 billion won worth of shares in Cheongwha Dongin No. 1. The charge of violating the Political Funds Act for receiving 847 million won in presidential primary funds from Kim Nam-wook through former Democratic Research Institute Deputy Director Kim Yong was also excluded from this indictment.
Additional Indictment of Jeong Jin-sang... Seongnam District Prosecutors Indict Corporate Officials Who Donated Sponsorship Funds
The prosecution additionally indicted Jeong Jin-sang, former Political Coordination Officer of the party leader’s office and a close aide to Lee, in connection with the Seongnam FC illegal sponsorship fund case. The prosecution judged that Jeong, who worked as a policy secretary for Seongnam City from 2010 to 2018, played a leading role in the breach of trust process. Jeong is currently on trial after being detained and indicted on charges including accepting bribes of 42.8 billion won promised by the Daejang-dong group (accepting bribes after wrongful acts) and accepting bribes of 240 million won. On the same day, the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office Seongnam Branch indicted corporate officials from Doosan Construction, Naver, and others who made quid pro quo sponsorship donations to Seongnam FC, as well as Seongnam city officials, on charges of bribery.
Lee has been under investigation by the prosecution for allegedly designing and promoting the Daejang-dong urban development project during his tenure as mayor of Seongnam in a way favorable to private developers, funneling 788.6 billion won in profits to the Daejang-dong group including Kim Man-bae, major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, and causing a loss of 489.5 billion won to Seongnam City. In the Wirye New Town development project, he is accused of providing internal information to private developers to gain an unfair profit of 21.1 billion won. Additionally, as the owner of Seongnam FC, he is accused of providing conveniences such as building permits and land use changes to four companies including Doosan Construction and Naver, and in return, securing sponsorship funds of 13.35 billion won for Seongnam FC. This case was investigated by the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office Seongnam Branch before being transferred to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office. Previously, last month, the prosecution requested an arrest warrant for Lee regarding the Wirye and Daejang-dong development corruption and Seongnam FC illegal sponsorship fund cases, but the warrant was automatically dismissed after the National Assembly rejected the consent for arrest.
Lee Jae-myung Investigation ‘Ongoing’... Challenges Remain Including North Korea Remittances
While the prosecution’s indictment of Lee without detention marks a pause in the 1.5-year-long investigation into the Daejang-dong development and related suspicions, investigations surrounding Lee are expected to continue for the time being.
When requesting the arrest warrant last month, the prosecution indicted Lee on the criminal facts specified in the warrant, but core suspicions related to the Daejang-dong project, such as the 42.8 billion won agreement suspicion, illegal presidential election funds, and Baekhyeon-dong development corruption allegations, remain under investigation.
Investigations related to Lee are also ongoing at the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office and Seongnam Branch. The Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office Criminal Division 6 (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-nam) is investigating Lee’s involvement in North Korea-related projects with Ssangbangwool in Gyeonggi Province.
The Suwon investigation team believes that Ssangbangwool remitted 8 million dollars for the North Korea project Lee was promoting, with 5 million dollars (approximately 6.5 billion won) used as inter-Korean cooperation costs for Gyeonggi Province and 3 million dollars (approximately 3.9 billion won) paid as Lee’s North Korea visit expenses. The investigation team is considering applying third-party bribery charges against Lee related to the North Korea remittances and is reportedly also considering summoning Lee for questioning.
The Seongnam Branch Criminal Division 3 (Chief Prosecutor Yoo Min-jong) is investigating the ‘Jeongja-dong hotel development preferential treatment suspicion.’ The core of the suspicion is that while constructing a tourist hotel on Seongnam city-owned land in Jeongja-dong, various preferential treatments such as land use changes were received from Seongnam City.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
