Real Estate Agent Arrested by Prosecutors for Accepting 1 Billion Won Bribe to Suppress Investigation in Baekhyeon-dong

Court: "Risk of Evidence Tampering and Flight"

A real estate developer accused of receiving a large sum of money in exchange for requesting the suspension of an investigation from Jeong Ba-ul (67, detained and indicted), chairman of Asia Developer, who is a private contractor for the Baekhyeon-dong development project, was detained by the prosecution on the 3rd.

On the same day, Yoo Chang-hoon, the judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, conducted a pre-arrest detention hearing for Lee (68), former chairman of KH BD Development, who was subject to a detention warrant request on charges of bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, and issued the warrant citing "risk of evidence destruction and flight."

Lee is accused of approaching Chairman Jeong, who was under investigation for preferential treatment allegations related to the Baekhyeon-dong development from May last year to June this year, persuading him by saying, "I know the police, prosecution, and judges well. I will prevent the investigation and issuance of an arrest warrant," and receiving about 1 billion KRW in multiple installments.

Jeong, who handed over the money to Lee, is currently detained and on trial for embezzlement and breach of trust involving approximately 48 billion KRW from Seongnam R&D PFV, the Baekhyeon-dong project implementation company.

The Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 (Chief Prosecutor Kim Yong-sik) of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office plans to investigate Lee during his detention period regarding the specific circumstances under which he received money from Chairman Jeong and whether requests to suspend investigations were actually made to the police, prosecution, and courts.