Min Kyung-chan Taken for Investigation

The Special Investigation Department of the National Police Headquarters is in the process of questioning Min Kyung-chan, a brother-in-law of Roh’s elder brother, who attracted 65.3 billion won of investment fund.

The police are focusing their investigation on the scale, process, and objective of the investment attraction as well as the identity of the investors and will likely decide whether or not to indict Min within this week.

Also, the police obtained a seizure and search warrant and raided five locations including Min’s office, Pureunsol Hospital where he is a head, and his apartments. They have placed a travel ban on Cho, his mother, and are in the process of tracing telephone call records between Min and personal loaner Kim. They are searching for evidence of illegality and charges of fraudulent practices to bring him to indictment.

The police is also searching for the whereabouts of Min’s younger brother who is suspected of being involved in attracting investors to the fund. “We are exerting an investigation on the brother since we were informed that he managed Min’s funds,” said a related official.

“When Min’s brother was working as an executive director at the Pureunsol Hospital, he was in charge of the financial management and auditing,” said Shin, a creditor of Min, said, adding, “When I asked to repay my money, he just said, ‘Do not worry since all the money is under my management.’ ”

Also, the doubts that Min tried to minimize the case are increasing over his reversed statement. He previously said that the investors consisted of 65 people during the investigation by the Presidential Secretarial Office of Civil Affairs mid January but then changed the number to 47 at the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS)’s investigation after the scandal was widely covered by the press.

“The related law requires any investment fund with more than 50 investors to report to the FSS, so there is a possibility that he reduced the number unlike his previous testimony,” said Chief Presidential Secretary Moon Jae-in. “We cannot accept the number 47 as it is for now.”

Also, the Grand National Party and the Millennium Democratic Party have pressed the prosecution for an investigation and the Assembly for an a state inspection on February 4. The Uri Party has expressed their policy to attack the issue face on, saying, “We will agree to a state inspection if necessary” while pressuring for a prosecution’s prompt and strict investigation.

Meanwhile, a presidential secretary of Audit and Inspection has resigned for personal reasons, which is suspected of being related to the Min fund investigation. An official at the Presidential Office of Civil Affairs commented, “He (who is quitting) expressed his will to quit saying that ‘he is too exhausted physically and mentally.’ He stopped coming to work with a two-day vacation, but we are dissuading him from his decision.”