Top Tax Official Faces Summons Over Bribery
By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
The prosecution plans to summon the nation's top tax official soon to investigate the allegation that he received 60 million won from a subordinate.
The plan came after former Busan Regional Tax Office Chief Chung Sang-gon testified that he gave 60 million won to Jeon Goon-pyo, the commissioner of the National Tax Service, as a bribe for his promotion.
The money was part of the 100 million won that Chung took from Kim Sang-jin, a Busan-based constructor, in exchange for helping Kim win contracts for large-scale construction projects and granting him tax reductions. Chung and Kim have both been jailed.
During the investigation into the bribery scandal involving the two, Chung testified that he gave 60 million won to his boss to seek promotion last year, the prosecution said.
Chung later asked Jeon to reappoint him as a regional chief in the port city, as there was no promotional vacancies he could be transferred to.
Once Jeon is summoned, the prosecution will question him if Chung's testimony is true, as Chung was transferred to the Seoul office's assistant commissioner of the real estate taxation bureau last December after the alleged bribe.
Jeon, however, has denied the allegation. Cheong Wa Dae asked the prosecution to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations, adding that it will take appropriate action afterward.