By Lee Kyung-min
The prosecution applied for an arrest warrant Wednesday for former presidential secretary for political affairs Jun Byung-hun over an allegation he pressured Lotte Homeshopping to “donate” 330 million won ($300,000) to a sports association he once headed.
Jun is the first high-ranking public official who served in the Moon Jae-in administration to face arrest for bribery allegations.
His two former aides surnamed Yoon and Cho, have already been arrested over their involvement in the case.
The request for the warrant came about two weeks after the allegation was first made, less than a week after he offered to resign as the presidential secretary.
Yoon admitted to pocketing 110 million won, a third of the contribution made by the home shopping unit.
He was a former secretary to Jun when he was a lawmaker on the National Assembly Broadcasting and Communications Committee.
The prosecutors believe that the money was in return for helping Lotte renew a license to operate its home shopping channel network.
Cho, who served as a senior official at the sports association, told them that Yoon asked for the money saying Jun needed it for his election campaign.
The prosecution said the two made up a false business contract as part of their scheme to embezzle the association funds for their own use.
The prosecution is looking into whether Jun pocketed part of the donations in return for exerting influence, given the contract had little relevance to the sports industry the association sought to foster.
Jun earlier flatly denied any wrongdoing, adding he has never been involved in any illegality.
The prosecution is expanding its investigation into other home shopping operators and telecommunication operators to check on allegations they offered “donations” in return for favors.