CIO Requests Prosecution to Indict Former Audit Board Chairman Choe Jaehae over "Targeted Audit of Jeon Hyunhee"

Choe Jaehae and Yoo Byungho Charged with Abuse of Authority and System Manipulation
"Accused of Infringing on Presiding Audit Commissioner's Authority"
Presiding Commissioner at the Time Was Special Prosecutor Cho Eonseok

The Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) has requested the prosecution to indict Choe Jaehae, former Chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection, who is suspected of conducting a "targeted audit" to force the resignation of Jeon Hyunhee, former Chairperson of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission.

On January 6, the CIO’s First Investigation Division (Chief Prosecutor Na Changsu) announced that it has requested the prosecution to indict former Chairman Choe and Yoo Byungho, former Secretary General of the Board of Audit and Inspection (currently a Commissioner at the Board), on charges of abuse of authority, obstruction of the exercise of rights, and damage to official electronic records. Former heads of the Public Official Inspection Headquarters, Planning and Coordination Office, Special Investigation Bureau, and the head of the 5th Division of the Special Investigation Bureau at the Board of Audit and Inspection have also been referred to the prosecution on the same charges.

According to the CIO, in June 2023, former Chairman Choe and others are accused of finalizing and executing an audit report related to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission without review and approval by the presiding audit commissioner, thereby infringing upon the commissioner’s authority.

Under the regulations of the Board of Audit and Inspection, audit reports must be reviewed and approved by the presiding commissioner representing the audit commissioners. However, it was found that former Chairman Choe and others manipulated the Board’s computer system to remove the review and approval button for the presiding commissioner and unilaterally executed the audit report through the Secretariat. At the time, the presiding audit commissioner was Cho Eonseok, the special prosecutor for sedition cases.

Previously, the Constitutional Court dismissed the impeachment motion against former Chairman Choe last year, acknowledging the illegality of these actions. However, the court accepted the argument from Choe’s side that it was an unavoidable measure to prevent delays by the presiding commissioner and did not rule it as abuse of authority.

Additionally, the CIO found during the investigation that the Secretariat unilaterally finalized and executed the wording of the audit report, even though the review and approval procedures by the audit commissioners had not been completed, and added this to the list of criminal facts.

The CIO also applied charges of damaging official electronic records in relation to the deletion of the "review and approval button." It concluded that the database related to the presiding audit commissioner’s approval was deleted, the review and approval button was removed, and the audit report itself was made inaccessible.

The CIO has also requested the indictment of an individual, identified as "A," who previously served as Director General for Planning and Coordination at the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, for violating the Act on Testimony and Appraisal before the National Assembly.

In or around August 2022, "A" is accused of providing information to the Board of Audit and Inspection regarding an audit of the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, but later falsely testified before the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee during a parliamentary audit that no such information had been provided to the Board.