By Kim Rahn
A former police chief will be summoned today for questioning over his bribe-taking in return for peddling influence for a broker to win lucrative rights to build makeshift cafeterias at construction sites.
The prosecution plans to seek arrest warrants for him as circumstances showed that he attempted to destroy evidence, expanding and broadening its investigation into the latest graft case in which a number of politicians and ranking-government officials are also implicated.
The prosecution said Sunday that it demanded former National Police Agency Commissioner General Kang Hee-rak and former Korea Coast Guard Commissioner General Lee Gil-bum present themselves for questioning.
They allegedly exercised their influence to enable a broker, 65-year-old Yu, to win a bid to operate cafeterias for workers at construction sites. Such cafeterias, if set up at construction sites for a large-scale building or apartment complexes, make hundreds of millions of won per year with such construction continuing for two to three years.
So, competition to operate the cafeteria is fierce, with lobbies and bribes involved. Among construction workers, the makeshift restaurants are known as “hamba.”
In what is dubbed the “hamba scandal,” Kang is suspected of receiving more than 100 million won ($88,800) from Yu in exchange for helping him operate the cafeteria and other favors. Part of the money was handed over in Kang’s office, prosecutors said.
Lee also allegedly took 35 million won from Yu for influence peddling. Lee owns an apartment at a complex during the construction of which Yu allegedly sought Lee’s influence for cafeteria operation.
Yu, who was arrested last October, testified that Kang gave him 40 million won about two months before his arrest and recommended he leave the country, according to the prosecution. It confirmed Kang and Yu had more than 1,000 phone conversations with each other.
“We presume Kang attempted to make Yu flee out of concerns that his connection with Yu may be revealed if arrested. If Kang is found to have attempted to stifle evidence, we’ll seek an arrest warrant,” a prosecutor at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office said.
Prosecutors imposed an overseas travel ban on Kang and Lee last month. Lee, without knowing this, was to go abroad with his family last Tuesday but was denied departure at the airport.
Yu, a big name in construction-related lobbying, used at least four false names, using five to six different name cards and 13 different cell phone numbers, according to prosecutors.
The prosecution said Yu confessed to his bribing dozens of political and administrative figures in exchange for influence peddling, and that it is investigating the allegations.
They include two to three members at the National Assembly’s Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs Committee; Rep. Cho Young-teck of the opposition Democratic Party; Rep. Lee Koon-hyon of the Grand National Party; a local authority head; and a head of a state-run organization.
“They all deny the alleged bribe taking, or say the money was legitimate political donations,” the prosecutor said.