Prosecutors Confirm Bribes in Lobbying Case

The prosecution confirmed that Kim Sang-jin, a real estate developer, paid former presidential aide Jeong Yoon-jae tens of millions of won in return for helping him lobby for canceling a supposed tax audit in July and August.

Kim paid 100 million won in bribes to former head of the Busan chapter of the National Tax Service (NTS) Jeong Sang-gon, whom Jeong Yoon-jae introduced to him.

The prosecutors in Busan who are investigating Kim’s illegal lobbying are planning to summon Jeong Yoon-jae today on charges of influence peddling.

Jeong Dong-min at the Busan District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday that his investigation team would call him in for investigation.

It is rare for the prosecution to release the name of a person who will be summoned without prosecution.

As they have confirmed that the former presidential secretary took bribes, prosecutors intend to punish him criminally this week after their investigation.

They also received a search warrant from the court and searched his two homes in Hakjang-dong, Busan and Dogok-dong, Seoul.

The prosecution is analyzing a computer, notes, and documents that it seized from the search.

Meanwhile, the former Busan NTS chief detained in the Busan Corrections Institution met with a Dong-A Ilbo reporter yesterday. He admitted that he received money but denied that it was a bribe.

Asked what he did with the money, he avoided answering, saying, “It is something to talk about in court, not in a correctional institution.”

As his answer strongly implies that at least part of the money he received from Kim might have gone to a third person, the prosecution is likely to expand its investment to higher-ranking people.