No Cooperation Might Stir up Intensive Search on Accounts

The supreme office of the prosecutors’ central investigation department (Chief Prosecutor: Ahn Dae-hee) is looking into the case of illegal fund raising during last year’s presidential election. Tracking down the bank accounts of related companies such as Samsung, LG, Hyundai, Lotte, Doosan, and Poogsan, which had offered donations to the Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) during the presidential election, the prosecutors obtained evidence of them secretly forming funds based on reviewing the companies’ bank accounts.

By next week, the prosecutors will summon the employees in charge of finance from the companies which are responsible for forming the secret funds. If the companies conceal the account books of the secret funds, a seizure and search warrant will be activated on the branches and headquarters of the relevant companies. Also, the prosecutors have secured facts that President Roh’s campaign office had deposited a large amount of money into more than two bank accounts using a specific person’s name.

“The assertion of Congressman Lee Sang-soo, that there is only one account which used a person’s name, is not true. Still, it is possible that he cannot be aware of this,” pointed out the spokesperson of the prosecutors, confirming that the person who had managed this account might be another person and not Congressman Lee.

Due to the refusal of the Grand National Party (GNP) to hand in the data with the donation of bank accounts and the companies related to contributing to the election funds, the prosecutors are deliberating over the measure to hunt down GNP’s accounts intensively.

The prosecutors have asked for cooperation from the Federation of Korea Industries (FKI), coming to an internal agreement that they would wait for voluntary cooperation from these companies.

They are also weighing on the measure that when the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) or the National Tax Service (NTS) files a complaint against the companies which had covered up the account books or other forms of evidence, then they will go ahead with the actual investigation. In the case of some companies, they already have submitted data connected with the presidential election funds.

“Our first target of this investigation is to check out the scales and whereabouts of the illegal election funds. We want once more to urge that the companies under suspicion should own up to their vile acts right now,” remarked Ahn Dae-hee, the chief of central investigation department.

On the other hand, the prosecutors passed on that “the corruption of the presidential aides will be checked up on regardless of the discussion to set up the special prosecutor system.”

Regarding Choi Do-sul’s (former presidential aide) corruption case, prosecutors have decided to call up Sun Bong-sul, the former chief of Changsuchun, the water bottling company, who once turned down an interview request from the prosecutors, by next week to interrogate him.

Wi-Yong Jung Jin-Kyun Kil viyonz@donga.com leon@donga.com