Prosecutors Thursday raided the home and office of a confidant of President Lee Myung-bak over allegations that he may have attempted to use his influence to deter a tax probe into a private company, Yonhap News Agency reported.
Some 20 investigators from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office searched the residence of Chun Shin-il, head of Sejoongnamo Tour Co. in Seongbuk-dong, northern Seoul, as well as his company office in downtown Seoul early Thursday morning before confiscating boxes of computer hard disks and accounting books.
Chun, an alumni of President Lee's university, is under suspicion of having colluded with Park Yeon-cha, head of a shoe manufacturer arrested for allegedly bribing former political heavyweights, including former President Roh Moo-hyun, in attempting to halt a tax probe against Park's company last year.
Chun and Lee are close personal friends with a relationship that goes back nearly 50 years. Chun reportedly played a key role in Lee's presidential campaign in 2007.
According to prosecutors, Chun is also suspected of occasionally holding meetings with Lee Jong-chan, a former presidential aide for civil affairs under President Lee, together with Kim Jung-bok, former head of the Jungbu Regional Tax Office, over ways to deter tax investigations into Park's company, Taekwang Industry.
In a related move, prosecutors Wednesday raided the Seoul Regional Tax Office, which was responsible for a tax probe into Taekwang, to search for evidence of the alleged collusion and look into allegations of a possible bribery of ranking tax officials by Park.