The High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Unit (HCIC) decided not to prosecute Lee Young-jin, a Constitutional Court Justice (62), who was accused of 'golf entertainment' on the 19th.
The HCIC concluded that there was no charge as objective evidence confirmed that no money or golf apparel was delivered to Justice Lee.
On that day, the HCIC Investigation Division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Kim Seon-gyu) dismissed the charges of bribery under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act against Justice Lee, who was reported.
Justice Lee was accused of receiving golf and meal entertainment, 5 million won in cash, and golf apparel from businessman A, whom he met at a golf gathering in October 2021. While Justice Lee admitted to playing golf and dining together, he denied the allegations of receiving apparel and 5 million won.
Regarding the reason for the 'no charge' decision, the HCIC stated that although A claimed he provided golf entertainment to request assistance with his divorce lawsuit, the only direct evidence supporting such allegations was A's statement. Furthermore, basic facts such as the dinner expenses after the golf gathering in 2021 were paid by businessman B, a high school alumnus of A and a relative of Justice Lee, which contradicted A's claims.
Additionally, A claimed that Justice Lee told him, "I will look into it through a family court judge I know," but the related evidence made it difficult to fully believe this, and legally, A's claim alone was insufficient to be considered 'mediation.'
Lastly, the 5 million won and golf apparel that A handed over to lawyer C, a university alumnus of Justice Lee, around March 2022 to deliver to Justice Lee were confirmed by objective evidence not to have been delivered to Justice Lee.
The HCIC received the accusation from the progressive civic group Judicial Justice Citizens' Action (JJCA) in August 2022 and conducted investigations, including a raid on the golf course where A and others played golf together and the offices of related parties on September 7 of the same year.
The HCIC also stated that a written investigation of Justice Lee was conducted in December last year.
An HCIC official said, "To verify the facts of A's claims, we conducted a thorough investigation including analysis of CCTV footage from relevant locations, forensic analysis of the mobile phones of related parties, analysis of call base stations and call records, fingerprint analysis on the golf apparel box, analysis of account transaction records of related parties, and credit card payment records, but we did not find any evidence supporting A's claims."
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