Third Person Pays Byeons Rent
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
The prosecution raided the temporary residence of a former presidential policy planner, who allegedly patronized a degree scammer, on suspicion that someone else was paying his rent for the apartment.
Investigators seized payment receipts related to former Cheong Wa Dae secretary Byeon Yang-kyoon from Somerset Palace Seoul's finance office in central Seoul late Monday.
According to prosecutors, Byeon stayed at the serviced residence for 13 months since July last year when he was appointed as the policy planning secretary until August this year. The residence is about 800 meters away from a studio apartment where former assistant professor Shin Jeong-ah, his long-time romantic partner accused of diploma forgery, has lived since January.
The monthly rate for Byeon's apartment is 5.6 million won, but he received a long-term-stay discount, and paid just two million won, according to the prosecution.
But prosecutors found that the rent was paid with somebody else's credit card for the first 12 months.
Then, after allegations surrounding Byeon and Shin emerged, an unidentified person came to the Somerset Palace's office and paid the two million won rent for August in cash, bringing the total payment to 26 million won.
``We don't think Byeon himself paid the rent, which is quite expensive compared to his salary. We are investigating who signed the room contract, who paid the money and what their relationship with Byeon was,'' a prosecutor said.
While working at the presidential office, Byeon received 89.4 million won in annual salary, according to the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs. The room rate was about 30 percent of this.
``We are tracing the credit card holder and investigating whether the person got favors from Byeon in exchange for paying the rent,'' the prosecutor said, indicating the scandal around Shin's fake diploma and Byeon's patronage for her could get larger if the third person who financially supported Byeon is found.
If it is confirmed that the rent was paid in exchange for influence peddling, Byeon will be charged with bribery, he added.
During a raid on Dongguk University late Monday, prosecutors secured documents showing that Byeon pressured the school to employ Shin as an assistant professor and that school officials had discussed the issue.