A former high-ranking police official who had a close relationship with the 'incident broker' mainly active in Gwangju and Jeonnam was found dead.
Attention is focused on how far the prosecution's investigation, which has shaken corrupt police officers from the early stages of the case, will expand.
According to the police on the 15th, Kim Jae-gyu (61), former chief of the Jeonnam Police Agency, was found dead around 10 a.m. that day at Geomdansan in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province.
The police received a report from his family the day before that Kim had gone out saying he was going hiking but did not return.
After searching the Geomdansan area where his mobile phone signal was lost, the police deployed riot police, search dogs, and drones, eventually finding the deceased Kim.
Kim was accused of committing personnel irregularities at the request of Seong Mo (62), an incident broker, during his tenure.
As the suspect has died, the case is expected to be closed with 'no prosecution.'
However, investigations into numerous current and former high-ranking police officials who are said to have been involved in investigation and personnel requests through Seong are expected to continue.
The investigation into the 'incident broker,' the starting point, began in earnest when the prosecution arrested and indicted Seong Mo (62), who exerted influence over investigative agencies in the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions for many years, last August.
The prosecution first applied charges that Seong, along with his accomplice Jeon, received a total of 1.854 billion won as lobbying money for investigative agencies from cryptocurrency investment fraudsters and others between 2020 and 2021, and brought them to trial.
Both are currently undergoing first trial; Seong denies some charges, while Jeon has admitted all his wrongdoing.
The prosecution is currently accelerating follow-up investigations.
They have secured circumstances and evidence that Seong made requests to investigative agencies for many years and are conducting intensive investigations targeting current and former police and prosecution officials.
On the 9th, a former police superintendent who served as head of the Seoul Police Investigation Department was arrested on charges of receiving money and valuables from Seong's side.
Although specific charges have not been confirmed, it is known to be related to Seong's investigation requests.
The next day, on the 10th, search warrants were executed at the Gwangju Police Agency, Bukbu Police Station, Gwangsan Police Station, and Cheomdan Precinct.
Some of the search targets are officials from investigative departments handling cases related to cryptocurrency investment fraudsters connected to Seong.
It is also reported that individuals who requested promotion personnel favors through Seong were included among the targets.
The prosecution has also booked two prosecution investigators on charges of receiving money and leaking investigation secrets related to election law violations by local government heads in the Jeonnam area, detaining one of them.
They are also looking into allegations of irregularities in winning local government public construction contracts and illegal political fund provision.
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