On the morning of the 10th, Lee Jae-myung, the representative of the Democratic Party, who is suspected of corruption in the Daejang-dong and Wirye New Town development projects, enters the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul to receive the second suspect investigation and announces a statement. Reporter Seong Dong-hun
It is expected that the prosecution will request an arrest warrant for Lee Jae-myung, the head of the Democratic Party, this week by tying up the allegations of preferential treatment for the development of Daejang-dong and Wirye New Town in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do, and the allegations of donations to Seongnam FC. Separately, the prosecution plans to continue investigating Lee’s alleged corruption in the development of Baekhyeon-dong and Jeongja-dong in Seongnam City, and the suspicion of involvement of the Ssangbangwool Group in remittances to North Korea.
According to the legal community on the 12th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office’s anti-corruption investigation divisions 1 and 3 (chief prosecutor Um Hee-joon and Kang Baek-sin), who are investigating the suspicion of corruption in the development of Daejang-dong and Wirye New Town, summoned Lee for the second time on the 10th and conducted a face-to-face investigation. After finishing it, we decided to request an arrest warrant this week at the earliest. Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office Seongnam Branch is expected to request an arrest warrant in connection with the suspicion of sponsoring Seongnam FC. It is known that the prosecution judges that it is inevitable to request an arrest warrant considering the seriousness of the charges, the possibility of destroying evidence, and the attitude of the statements made so far.
Even if the prosecution requests an arrest warrant, the possibility of an actual arrest is slim. In order to arrest or detain a member of the National Assembly during the session, the judge must obtain the consent of the majority of the members present at the plenary session of the National Assembly before starting the questioning of the suspect before arrest (examination of the validity of the warrant), as the Democratic Party, which has a majority of seats in the National Assembly, opposes it. If the motion for arrest is rejected by the National Assembly, the prosecution is highly likely to conclude the investigation by prosecuting Lee without detention.
It seems that the investigation targeting Lee will continue even after this. The 1st and 3rd anti-corruption investigation departments of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office seized and searched 40 places including Seongnam City Hall and Seongnam Urban Development Corporation on the 7th in connection with the suspicion of preferential treatment for the development of Baekhyeon-dong. ··Extensive investigation ahead of Lee Jae-myeong’s appearance).
Suwon District Prosecutor’s Office 6th Criminal Division (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-nam) is investigating whether Lee was involved in sending money to North Korea by former Ssangbangul Group Chairman Kim Seong-tae, who was charged with violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act.
Prosecutors delivered more than 8 million dollars (approximately 9.8 billion won) to the North in the name of paying the expenses of then-Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung’s visit to North Korea (3 million dollars) and Gyeonggi-do’s North Korean smart farm business expenses (5 million dollars) in the indictment against former Chairman Kim. It is known that it was written. However, it is said that Lee was not identified as an accomplice in the alleged remittance to North Korea. The prosecution believes that former chairman Kim delivered money to North Korea under the rapport with CEO Lee, and is reviewing whether to apply Lee to a third party bribery charge. Lee has completely denied the allegations.
