Choi Do-sul Used 670 Million Won to Pay off Presidential Election Debts and Living Expenses

The investigation headquarters of the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office, with Senior Prosecutor Ahn Dae-hee heading the investigation, stated on October 24 that Choi Do-sul, a former presidential secretary for general affairs had received 1.1 billion won from SK and had used 670 million of it to pay off the presidential election debts and living expenses after the conclusion of the election.

The prosecution found out Choi hid 100 million won by using another bank account and has probed into the action of Choi sending the money to the other account.

Choi insisted that he had used 390 million won, including cash and checks, to pay off presidential election debts and living expenses out of the 1.1 billion won total, but the prosecution thinks the amount of money he used was much larger than what he had insisted.

Prosecutors announced the interim findings that day afternoon regarding the usage of 1.1 billion won that Choi received from SK.

Accordingly, Choi had received 11 100-million won CDs from SK Chairman Son Kil-seung last December and paid them to the account of Lee Young-ro’s wife (Lee was the high school senior classmate of President Roh). After the transfer, this money was withdrawn as cash for 300 million and as check for 800 million.

Choi has kept four 20-million won CDs and 100 1-million won checks, and prosecutors have confiscated all of them and found out that another 100-million won check was paid from another bank account

According to the prosecution, Choi attributed the confiscated 180 million won to Lee’s money, who lost his consciousness due to cerebral infraction.

The prosecution also ensured that Lee had supported 100 million won out of 430 million for the research expenses for his wife, a professor in Busan, and bought 100 million won worth of stocks in the name of his sons and daughters.

Prosecutors plan to trace the remaining 230 million won and 390 million won, which Choi insisted on paying off the debts and so on, by early November when Choi’s detention term will expire.

Prosecutors cleared up the suspicion that Choi had also received illegal funds from other companies besides SK after presidential election, saying, “It has been not yet confirmed except the slight scale of receiving the cash.”

Wi-Yong Jung viyonz@donga.com