Prosecution summons former Hana Bank deputy head over Gwak Sang-do's 5 billion won suspicion

The prosecution investigating former People Power Party lawmaker Kwak Sang-do (64) for the '5 billion won bribery suspicion' has summoned a former Hana Bank vice president who formed the 'Seongnam Eutteul Consortium' with Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, during the Daejang-dong project bidding.

Prosecutors have filed an arrest warrant for the fifth cousin of Justice Minister Cho Kuk, a key figure in the 'private equity fund suspicion,' and there are expectations that Professor Jung Kyung-shim, the minister's wife, will soon be summoned. The photo was taken on the 16th at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

According to the legal community on the 11th, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin) recently summoned Kim Jeong-gi, an outside director of Korea Investment Holdings (61), as a witness for questioning.

The prosecution is known to have questioned Director Kim about the circumstances of Hoban Construction Group's pressure on Hana Bank, the internal situation of the Seongnam Eutteul Consortium, and the role of former lawmaker Kwak.

The prosecution believes that Hoban Construction pressured Hana Bank to leave the Seongnam Eutteul Consortium and join the Industrial Bank of Korea consortium in which they participated. When the Seongnam Eutteul Consortium was on the verge of collapse during this process, Kim asked former lawmaker Kwak to exert influence on Hana Bank to remain in the consortium, and in return, the prosecution views that Kwak received 5 billion won (2.5 billion won after tax) as severance pay for his son.

Director Kim served as the head of the marketing group at the vice president level at Hana Bank in 2015 when the bank formed the Seongnam Eutteul Consortium with Kim and others. The prosecution conducted a search and seizure at Director Kim's residence on the 9th. After analyzing the seized materials and completing related witness investigations, the prosecution plans to summon former lawmaker Kwak and his son as suspects for questioning.

Former lawmaker Kwak, who denies the charges, maintains that the suspicion of 'exerting influence on Hana Bank' is unrelated to him.