By Kang Shin-who
Staff reporter
Prosecutors are likely to indict Rep. Kang Sung-jong of the major opposition Democratic Party soon, a source from the prosecution office in Seoul said Tuesday.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office summoned Kang for questioning for a second time the same day.
The former chairman of Shinheung College, located in Uijeongbu, in the northern part of Gyeonggi Province, is suspected of having embezzled 8.6 billion won of school money and was already called by the authorities once last March.
Kang has denied all allegations. Prosecutors have continued their investigation to collect more evidence. They say they have confirmed that Kang misappropriated 5 billion won, collected from Shinheung College and another 3.6 billion won from the school’s affiliated Indianhead International School (IIS).
Of the illegal funds, 4 billion won was used for his political activities, they said.
They also said they have secured evidence that Kang’s father Shin-kyung, the founder of the school, embezzled billions of won from other sister schools.
IIS Chairman Park Jeong-jin, Kang’s brother-in-law, has already been arrested in the corruption case. Park is still claiming that all embezzlement was instructed by Kang, chairman of the school at that time.
The Korea Times reported in April last year, that former and current teachers of IIS were accusing Kang of using the college’s funds and buildings for political and personal purposes.
The college, affiliated with some 10 other schools, including IIS, is suspected of being a means to channel funds to Kang for his own private interests.
However, education authorities, especially the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, turned a deaf ear to the corruption charges, claiming that they have no authority to inspect the college.