By Kim Rahn
Two of President Lee Myung-bak’s key aides have been indicted for influence peddling in exchange for money from real estate developer Picity.
Prosecutors said Friday they indicted former Korea Communications Commission Chairman Choi See-joong and former Knowledge Economy Vice Minister Park Young-june on charges of receiving kickbacks in return for facilitating a development project in southern Seoul.
The announcement came about a month after the prosecution launched an investigation into allegations that Picity bribed bureaucrats in the central government and Seoul Metropolitan governments to change a cargo terminal development project into a larger-sized logistics complex including shopping facilities.
Choi, 75, allegedly received 800 million won ($681,700) from Picity through a middleman over 13 occasions between August 2006 and October 2008, and exercised his influence in return, so that the project could get a go-ahead despite the negative impact on traffic and air quality in adjacent areas.
“Choi said he used the money for personal purposes, denying allegation it was spent on public surveys before the 2007 presidential election. We keep looking into bank accounts of figures around Choi, including his family members, but haven’t found evidence that the money was used for political purposes,” prosecutor Lee Geum-ro said in a media briefing.
Park was indicted on charges of taking 164 million won from the developer over nine occasions during a similar period. It was recently found that the 52-year-old also received some 100 million won from a Kosdaq-listed firm in July 2008 in return for peddling influence for its industrial complex development project.
Choi and Park were already put behind bars in late April and early this month, respectively.
“Besides Choi and Park, we’ve questioned about 80 people involved in the scandal. We also raided 15 places to trace kickbacks, including the office of a farming material company run by Park’s brother,” prosecutor Lee said.
Among other figures involved in the scandal, prosecutors indicted Seoul City’s former political affairs chief Kang Cheol-won without physical detention. He allegedly received 30 million won from Picity in October 2008 in return for pressuring city officials to quicken the license granting procedure for the development project.
The middleman, Lee Dong-yool who delivered money from Picity to Choi and Park, was also indicted with detention on charges of receiving 550 million won from Picity from August 2007 to May 2008, saying he spent the money to bribe policymakers.
His driver, identified with the surname Choi, was also charged with blackmailing his employer for 94 million won, threatening he would make public the illegality as he witnessed the offering and taking of bribes. It was found he blackmailed Kang as well.
The prosecution said it will continue to trace money flowing between related figures which could lead to more charges.
Prosecutors failed to quiz JE&Tech chief Lee Dong-jo, a Pohang-based businessman who is believed to have managed and laundered Park’s kickbacks, as he has been staying in China.
“We are trying to bring him to the country for questioning. If we confirm allegations against him, we may seek extradition,” prosecutor Lee said.