Indictment filed, assigned to the Crime Proceeds Recovery Department
The investigation was influenced by the divorce case between Choi Tae-won and Noh So-young.
The prosecution has assigned the case and begun reviewing records after receiving a complaint requesting an investigation into the truth behind former President Roh Tae-woo’s “30 billion won slush fund” that surfaced during the divorce proceedings between SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won and Art Center Nabi Director Roh So-young. If the slush fund investigation begins in earnest, attention is being paid to whether it will have an impact on the Supreme Court’s divorce proceedings.
According to the legal community on the 24th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office received a complaint regarding the ‘Seonkyung 30 billion won’ memo on the 19th and assigned it to the Criminal Proceeds Recovery Department (Chief Prosecutor Yoo Min-jong). The Criminal Proceeds Recovery Department is a department that is in charge of tracking down and recovering to the national treasury the proceeds obtained through crimes such as corruption or illegal activities.
It has been determined that the indictment was submitted in his personal capacity by Lee Hee-gyu, the chairman of the Future Strategy Special Committee of the Constitutional Assembly of the Republic of Korea. In a phone call with this newspaper, Chairman Lee explained the background of the indictment, saying, “(The 30 billion won in slush funds) are all proceeds of crime and hidden assets,” and “The public’s legal sentiment is the same, and the intention is to recover all of the slush funds to the national treasury.” He also indicted former President Roh’s wife, Kim Ok-sook, his younger brother Jae-woo, and his son Jae-heon on charges of hiding the slush funds and tax evasion. Chairman Lee served as a 3rd term member of the provincial assembly and a 16th term member of the National Assembly, representing Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, where SK Hynix is headquartered.
The suspicion of former President Roh’s slush funds was raised right after the appeal trial of the divorce suit between Chairman Choi and Director Roh in May of this year. The Seoul High Court’s Family Division 2 (Presiding Judge Kim Si-cheol) deemed all assets, including SK Corporation, as joint assets between Chairman Choi and Director Roh and increased the amount of property division to 1.3808 trillion won. In the process, Director Roh’s side submitted as evidence a memo of Mrs. Kim Ok-sook’s slush funds, which was written as “Sunkyung 30 billion won,” to prove that she had contributed to the growth of SK Group. Based on the memo, the appellate court judged that the 30 billion won presumed to be former President Roh’s slush funds had been transferred to former SK Chairman Choi Jong-hyun and had become the foundation for the growth of Sunkyung (SK) Group at the time. It is said that Mrs. Kim had kept the memo until Director Roh submitted it to the court. The existence of the slush funds was not revealed in the previous prosecution investigation, and therefore it was not included in the additional fines.
The prosecution is expected to review the accusation and decide whether to conduct an investigation. Minister of Justice Park Sung-jae said at the National Assembly Budget Settlement Special Committee held on the 5th, “If tax evasion is confirmed, it can be criminally punished,” and “I will reveal the Ministry of Justice’s position soon.” Earlier, at the personnel hearing on the 3rd, Prosecutor General Shim Woo-jung responded to the opposition party’s question that “former President Roh’s slush fund should be recovered” by saying, “I do not know the specific facts, and I think I will have to look into whether it is legally possible. I will look into it carefully once I take office.”
Reporter Song Yoo-geun [email protected]
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2024-09-24 21:57:28