Operation of Illegal Promotion Room and Receipt of Funds
"Completely Unfounded"
Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Andogeol (representing Gwangju Dongnam-eul), who has been indicted for conspiring with his cousin to operate an illegal telemarketing room, also claimed that the allegations of violating the Political Funds Act are not true.
The 12th Criminal Division of the Gwangju District Court (Presiding Judge Park Jaeseong) held a trial on the 10th for 14 defendants, including lawmaker Andogeol, on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act and the Political Funds Act, and conducted a witness examination of lawmaker Andogeol's cousin, identified as A.
The lawmaker's defense attorney argued, "The prosecution indicted on the grounds that the 33 million won A was supposed to receive was donated as political funds rather than corporate funds," and added, "Under the Political Funds Act, relatives are not subject to punishment." The attorney further claimed, "There are errors in the indicted amount, and the seized evidence is unrelated to the alleged crime."
The prosecution focused on establishing the conspiracy between lawmaker Andogeol and A through the witness examination of A.
Meanwhile, lawmaker Andogeol is accused of conspiring with his cousin A and others to operate an illegal telemarketing room during the Democratic Party primary for the April 10 general election from December 2023 to February 2024, and of paying 25.54 million won to 10 campaign staff members. He is also charged with receiving 43.02 million won in corporate funds managed by A, as well as illegally obtaining the personal information of 431 residents in his constituency.
Lawmaker Andogeol has completely denied all charges, stating that he was unaware of the illegal promotional text messages and financial transactions.
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