On the 15th, the prosecution summoned and investigated Jeong Jin-sang, head of the policy coordination office at the Democratic Party representative office, who is the closest associate of Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, as suspected . An intense investigation into the corruption allegations related to the Daejang-dong incident is expected.
According to the legal community on the 13th, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office (Chief Prosecutor Eom Hee-joon) discussed with Chief Chung’s side and decided to investigate Chief Chung on the 15th. The investigation team originally sent a notice to Chief Chung on the 11th, asking him to report to the prosecution and submit to an investigation, but Chief Chung’s side requested coordination of the schedule, citing issues such as the appointment of a lawyer.
Prosecutors believe that when CEO Lee was the mayor of Seongnam, Chief Jung received a request from the Daejang-dong gang to provide the convenience needed to maximize profits, and handed it to CEO Lee. In addition, it is suspected that through the approval of CEO Lee, the request for preferential treatment, such as △exclusion of construction companies from qualifying for private enterprise application △elimination of excess profit redemption clause for private companies △limit of dividends from Seongnam Urban Development Corporation to 182.2 billion won, has become a reality. Daejang-dong and his gang are accused of providing presidential campaign funds to Lee after he was promised preferential treatment.
Prosecutors believe that Chung not only received 140 million won from 2013 to 2020 in exchange for preferential treatment related to the Daejang-dong and Wirye New Town development projects, but also received 400 million won in campaign funds during the 2014 local elections. In addition to corruption, Hwacheon Daeyu’s main shareholder Kim Man-bae promised to share 24.5% (42.8 billion won after tax) of the 49.0% stake in the Daejang-dong project (acceptance of corruption after misconduct) and private businessmen, including lawyer Nam-wook, in the course of the Wirye New City project There is also a charge (violation of the Anti-Corruption Act) that he made a large profit by paying money to the company.
In the legal world, there are remarks that the prosecution will seek an arrest warrant for Chief Chung soon after the summons and investigation. In this process, the investigation is expected to focus on how much Lee was involved in the corruption of Daejang-dong and Wirye New Town. The prosecution mentioned Lee’s name a total of 102 times in Chief Chung’s search and seizure warrant, and described the relationship between Chief Chung and Lee as one of “community politics.”
Chung denies all allegations. Lui issued a statement on the 10th, saying, “The prosecution is committing a crime that doesn’t exist with ‘Saminseongho’, but lies cannot defeat the truth.”
Reporter Kim Jin-seong [email protected]
