One of the screening committee members accused of receiving large bribes from companies participating in the apartment construction project management service (supervision) bid commissioned by Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) has been arrested.
Nam Cheon-gyu, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, held a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant review) on the 18th and issued an arrest warrant for private university professor Kim, who is suspected of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (bribery), stating there is a risk of evidence destruction and flight.
A screening committee member accused of receiving large bribes from companies participating in the apartment construction project management service (supervision) bid ordered by Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) is attending a pre-trial detention hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the morning of April 18, 2024. Photo by Yonhap News
According to the prosecution, Kim is suspected of receiving 30 million won as a screening fee from the representative of a bidding company around March 2022, and an additional 20 million won from the representative of a competing company.
The prosecution also requested arrest warrants for public enterprise employee Lee and private university professor Lim, who face the same charges as Kim, but the court dismissed them. Judge Nam stated regarding Lee, "There is room for dispute over the fact of bribery and the application or adaptation of the public official presumption regulation, so it is necessary to guarantee the suspect's right to defense," and added, "Considering the progress of the investigation so far, the suspect's claims, residence, occupation, and family relations, it is difficult to recognize the grounds and necessity for detention at this stage," explaining the reason for dismissal.
Regarding Lim, the court also dismissed the prosecution's request for an arrest warrant, stating, "Although the fact of receiving cash is acknowledged, there is room for dispute over whether there was a solicitation and legal issues, so it is necessary to guarantee the suspect's right to defense."
Public enterprise employee Lee is suspected of receiving 30 million won in bribes around January 2020 from the representative of a company participating in the supervision bid commissioned by LH, in exchange for favorable screening.
Private university professor Lim is suspected of receiving a total of 80 million won in bribes in two installments from the representative of a bidding company between March and May 2022 as a screening fee.
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