President Lee’s cousin suspected of fraud

By Lee Hyo-sik

The prosecution said Friday it was investigating a cousin of President Lee Myung-bak over allegations that he swindled hundreds of millions of won from two building contractors by using his family ties to the President.

The Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office said a 35-year-old man and his associate sued a 75-year-old man surnamed Lee and his two sons for falsely promising them handsome returns if they invested in a four-river refurbishment project and other construction schemes.

Early this month, the two individuals filed a complaint with the Supreme Prosecutors Office, which later handed the case to the Suwon Office.

In the petition filed, they argued President Lee’s cousin and his two sons promised them in August 2009 that they would earn huge profits if they took part in the river project.

Lee even said the President and Rep. Lee Sang-deuk pledged to give financially struggling relatives business rights over the river scheme, according to the petition.

In hopes of winning orders for the multi-billion dollar project, the two individuals gave 300 million won ($270,000) to the President’s cousin. But the two builders were unable to secure orders for the river plan.

“We confirmed one of the accused is indeed President Lee’s cousin. We are now closely looking into the complaint,’’ a prosecution official said. Investigators plan to proceed with the case in a swift manner as relatives of the President are involved.

In May, a relative of President Lee was under investigation on charges of receiving 50 million won from a construction contractor in return for providing rights to demolishing old apartment buildings. In March, another relative was indicted for pocketing tens of millions of won by falsely promising a builder a subcontracting order.