The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (Hogoigongjigja Beomjoe Susa Cheo, Gongsucheo) failed to secure the custody of a senior official of the Board of Audit and Inspection suspected of receiving a large bribe.
On the 9th, Lee Minsu, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, conducted a warrant hearing for Kim, who is accused of bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, and then dismissed the arrest warrant, stating that "the suspect's right to defense needs to be guaranteed."
The chief judge stated, "While there is considerable suspicion that construction contracts were concluded through the suspect's involvement related to his duties, it is difficult to say that sufficient direct evidence proving the suspect's involvement in a significant portion of the construction work has been secured."
He also judged that "considering the need to guarantee the right to cross-examination regarding the evidence, the possibility of factual or legal disputes in calculating the amount of the bribe, and the need to provide the suspect with sufficient opportunity to submit rebuttal materials concerning embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes," the suspect's right to defense must be guaranteed, leading to the dismissal of the arrest warrant at this stage.
An arrest warrant was requested for Kim, a Grade 3 official at the Board of Audit and Inspection, on charges including bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.
Kim, who mainly handled audits in construction, social overhead capital (SOC), and facility sectors at the Board of Audit and Inspection, is suspected of receiving bribes worth over 1 billion KRW by establishing a company under an acquaintance's name and winning construction contracts from construction firms.
Earlier, the Board of Audit and Inspection detected signs of Kim's misconduct and requested an investigation by the Gongsucheo in October 2021. Kim has a history of being disciplined with a three-month suspension after an internal audit at the Board found that he traveled to Southeast Asia during working hours with a construction company official.
In February last year, the Gongsucheo conducted a search and seizure at the Board of Audit and Inspection and secured internal audit materials related to Kim. On the 27th of last month and the 1st of this month, Kim was summoned twice as a suspect for investigation.
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