Prosecutors trace money flow in vote-buying scandal

By Kim Rahn

Prosecutors are looking into bank accounts of aides to National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae to find out how they prepared money to give Grand National Party (GNP) members in a cash-for-votes scandal ahead of the party’s leadership race in 2008.

After securing a list of figures the Park camp allegedly bribed, the prosecution is tracing the flow of funds between its official accounts and the personal ones of a former aide, identified as Cho, who was in charge of finance at the time. It sought an arrest warrant for a non-parliamentary GNP member who had the list.

With the prosecution securing email records exchanged between Park’s aides and supporters, the investigation is expected to zero in on politicians in a faction close to President Lee Myung-bak.

Prosecutors are looking to wind up their probe as quickly as possible and plan to question Park after he returns from an overseas trip on Jan. 18.

On Wednesday and Thursday, the prosecution grilled Ko Myeong-jin, the speaker’s former secretary who is suspected of having delivered money to Rep. Koh Seung-duk, and other lawmakers to seek their support during the race for the party chairmanship.

Following testimony from Koh’s aide that he returned the 3 million won to Ko, the prosecution questioned the former secretary about the vote-buying allegation. Ko admitted receiving the money from the aide but denied delivering it to the lawmaker.

Prosecutors now plan to question Cho and another former aide to Park, who were more senior than Ko, as well as Kim Hyo-jae, a senior presidential secretary for political affairs who was one of the Park’s key aides at the time

During an earlier interview, Rep. Koh said that after he returned the money to Park, Kim called him to ask why he did so.

Kim has flatly denied this, saying he has never talked to Koh.

The investigation is also expanding to non-parliamentary members of the GNP as other alleged bribery attempts have surfaced.

Prosecutors Friday sought an arrest warrant for An Byung-yong, chief of the party’s main chapter in Seoul, after questioning him for two days. He allegedly gave 20 million won to five of its members and ordered them to deliver it to the secretary generals of 30 other party chapters based in the capital.

Prosecutors questioned four of the five and confirmed that An gave the order in an office on the lower floor of the Park camp’s headquarters in a building in Yeouido, Seoul.

The members testified that An showed them a list of party chiefs they were to give the money to. They said they returned the money to An after concluding the money offering was illegal. The prosecution said they have obtained the list.

But An, an aide to Rep. Lee Jae-oh who is President Lee’s key aide, has denied the allegation, claiming a faction against Rep. Lee is framing up the story.