The prosecution investigating allegations of corruption in the Saemangeum solar power project has arrested a broker who received money in exchange for facilitating the awarding of contracts for onshore solar power construction projects.
On the 19th, the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office Joint Investigation Team on National Financial Crimes (led by Min Kyung-ho) announced that the court had issued an arrest warrant the previous day for broker A, who is accused of accepting bribes for mediation.
A is suspected of acting as a broker by facilitating the awarding of construction contracts for projects in the Gunsan area to public officials in Gunsan City, Jeonbuk Province, and receiving money in return.
Earlier, in June last year, the Board of Audit and Inspection requested the prosecution to investigate Mayor Kang Im-jun of Gunsan and others on charges including abuse of authority, fraud, and violation of the Subsidy Act, based on the audit results of the "Renewable Energy Project Promotion Status." In response, the prosecution conducted a raid on Gunsan City Hall for about 10 hours in July last year.
The Board of Audit and Inspection believes that when selecting the preferred construction negotiation candidate for the Saemangeum onshore solar power Zone 2 project in October 2020, Mayor Kang gave preferential treatment to a specific company that did not meet the bidding requirements. It is known that the representative of the company is a high school alumnus of Mayor Kang.
The Saemangeum solar power project is a project in which the Citizens Development Corporation, invested by Gunsan City, and the Western Power Corporation invested a total of 126.8 billion won to build a 99 MW-class solar power plant on a 1.2 km² site in Naecho-dong, which began commercial operation in December 2021.
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