Special prosecutors raid Supreme Prosecutors Office over missing banknote straps
Investigators and prosecutors under special counsel Ann Gweon-seob's team execute a search and seizure warrant in this undated file photo. Yonhap
A special counsel team raided the Supreme Prosecutors Office (SPO) on Friday as part of its investigation into the prosecution's alleged loss of key evidence related to the probe into former first lady Kim Keon Hee.
Special counsel Ann Gweon-seob sent prosecutors and investigators to the SPO in southern Seoul in the morning to execute a search and seizure warrant targeting its information and communications department.
Ann's team has been investigating the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office's loss of Bank of Korea straps used to bundle new banknotes worth 50 million won ($34,700) found at the home of a shaman close to Kim during the prosecution's raid in December 2024. The straps contain the banknotes' identifying information, such as the inspection date.
The prosecution office later found the straps missing, and the SPO announced in October last year that they were lost by accident.
But special prosecutors executed the search and seizure warrant to see whether there were instructions from higher-ups in the prosecution to cover up the evidence and its loss. They also attempted to secure the prosecution's messenger records related to the loss of the banknote straps.