[Breaking] Prosecution Indicts Lee Jae-myung Without Detention for 'Private Use of Corporate Card'... Number of Trials Increases to Five

The prosecution indicted Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, without detention on the 19th on charges of 'suspected private misuse of Gyeonggi Province corporate cards.' Lee's spouse, Kim Hye-kyung, was given a suspended prosecution disposition.

This is the fifth indictment against Lee. He is already indicted in cases including the Public Official Election Act case, for which he was sentenced to one year in prison with a two-year probation on the 15th in the first trial; the perjury coaching case with a first trial verdict scheduled for the 25th; the Daejang-dong, Baekhyeon-dong, and Seongnam FC cases; and the Ssangbangwool North Korea remittance case.

The Public Investigation Division of Suwon District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Heo Hoon) indicted Lee on charges of breach of trust in the course of duty. Jeong, former chief secretary to the Gyeonggi Province governor, and Bae, a former Gyeonggi Province public official, were also indicted as accomplices on the same charges. The prosecution stated, "Many public officials were mobilized to systematically misuse the budget."

The prosecution revealed that during Lee's tenure as governor of Gyeonggi Province from 2018 to 2021, he allegedly used the Gyeonggi Province corporate card to pay for private meals, privately spent Gyeonggi Province budget on food expenses, laundry fees, and fruit costs, parked a Genesis sedan, a government vehicle, at his residence, and used it unrelated to official duties, amounting to a total breach of trust suspicion involving 106.53 million KRW.