By Kim Rahn Staff Reporter President Roh Moo-hyun's former chief secretary of policy planning is under investigation for his possible abuse of authority to protect and sponsor his long-time romantic partner, a 35-year-old woman accused of misrepresenting her academic career. Byeon Yang-kyoon, who resigned from Cheong Wa Dae Monday, was banned from leaving the country until the completion of the ongoing probe of his alleged misconduct in peddling influence to protect the former Dongguk University professor and art curator, Shin Jeong-ah who is now in hiding in the United States. The prosecution is trying to recover deleted e-mails from Shin's computer they seized to find evidence of allegations that Byeon pressured officials at the university and Gwangju Biennale Foundation to select Shin for the professor and director positions. According to KBS, the university's former President Hong Ki-sam told a friend that Byeon had recommended Shin for the professor position via a phone call in 2005. Byeon allegedly told Hong that he knew a talented woman who had graduated from Yale, and Hong, not knowing that her degree was bogus, thanked Byeon for introducing a good person to him. Hong said he did not disclose the recommendation as it could have smeared the school's honor. In 2005, the former president pushed ahead with hiring Shin despite opposition from other professors. Prosecutors are probing who helped her gloss over suspicions about her academic credentials, and who is supporting her U.S. stay now. Shin, also a credit defaulter, fled to New York in mid-July as suspicions surrounding her career grew. Prosecutors are also probing whether other high-profile figures other than the disgraced aide have protected the bogus Yale Ph.D. degree holder. Shin pulled in sponsorships from large-sized companies for exhibitions at Sungkok Art Museum where she has worked as a curator since 2002. Most of the sponsorships, some of which were from Daewoo Engineering and Construction, and Korea Development Bank, were made after 2005 when Byeon was appointed as chief of policy planning. The prosecution will summon employees of the companies to question whether Byeon pressured them to provide sponsorship for the exhibitions. Shin was alleged to have told his friends that she had a couple of dates, and one of them was an old bachelor in his late 30s who worked at an economy-related government agency. She said he was a man of ordinary background in Gyeongsang Province, and showed her friends an expensive, imported ring, saying she received it from the man as a birthday present. The ``old bachelor'' may refer to Byeon, but considering she said she was going out with several men, it may be a third person, prosecutors said. The main opposition Grand National Party said Shin may have been supported by Lee Hae-chan, a presidential contender of the pro-government United New Democratic Party, claiming Lee was behind Byeon's promotions in the Roh administration. But Lee's aide threatened to file a libel suit. rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr