By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
An independent counsel probing President-elect Lee Myung-bak's financial fraud allegations raided a company and four other sites involved in Seoul City's development project in its investigation into the firm's alleged murky ties with the former Seoul mayor.
Investigators Friday seized 22 boxes of documents and computers from Korean German Industrial Park company office in Sangam-dong in northern Seoul; a school foundation set up by the company CEO Yoon Yeu-dug in southwestern Seoul; and homes of Yoon and other company officials.
After examining the seized materials, the counsel plans to summon Yoon and other figures involved soon.
A development project named Sangam Digital Media City (DMC) seeks the establishment of a high-tech industrial complex, ranging from cultural contents business to IT business and research centers, on some 560,000 square meters of land in Sangam-dong.
The United New Democratic Party claimed that Seoul City gave preference to the company when distributing the land in 2002 when Lee was Seoul mayor.
According to the party, the city distributed part of the land, which was allocated only for foreign firms, to the company, which was almost bankrupt at that time. The city also allegedly helped the company get bank loans even though it was aware that the firm's plan to attract 550 billion won of foreign investment was fraudulent.
``The company, after getting the land from the city at a dirt cheap price, built officetels _ not office buildings for foreign firms _ and made 600 billion won by selling the officetels to Korean investors. It is also suspected of raising slush funds,'' officials of the party claimed earlier, filing complaints against three officials of the company and five Seoul city officials last October.
The counsel will question company officials and city officials over how the firm obtained the construction costs, whether the city distributed the land unlawfully, and if Lee was involved.
The special probe team demanded the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) submit inspection records of the city government, but the BAI refused, saying the inspection is still ongoing.
The prosecution, which had investigated several allegations involving the President-elect, did not make much progress in the DMC case, an independent counsel investigator said.