"Booyoung Raised 20 Billion Won Secret Money"

Booyoung Corp., an apartment construction company, was discovered by the prosecution to have raised secret money of more than 20 billion won.

The Central Investigation Department at the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office announced on March 10, “We traced the money while we were investigating into Booyoung’s involvement in the 2002 presidential campaign fund scandal. We are further investigating about how the money was used in the last few years.”

The prosecution is investigating into whether Booyoung handed the secret money to political circles while it was extending its business areas during the Kim Dae-jung government.

“The investigation into the politicians involved with Booyoung will restart after 4.15 general election, but the investigation into the secret funds will continue,” said the investigation team head.

The prosecution also said that they are investigating into Dongbu Group’s alleged secret fund-raising through window-dressing auditing.

The prosecution suspects that it is highly likely that Dongbu has used the money in lobbying politicians to further strengthen the large stockholders’ hold of the Group. The team leader also commented, “This case involving Dongbu is a very important one.”

The prosecution plans to issue a warrant to Booyoung President Lee Joong-geun under charges of usurpation and others. They also plan to further investigate into the charges against Dongbu President Kim Jun-ki.

The prosecution has initiated investigation into Rep. Shin Kye-ryun’s alleged receipt of money related to GoodMoney, a moneylender firm who lobbied political circles, since MDP Rep. Cho Jae-hwan handed in related documents and the CD recording notes on March 10. They have further confirmed that Rep. Shin received gift certificates from GoodMoney President Kim Young-hoon in addition to the 300 million won. According to the recording notes on the date of December 31, Kim said to Rep. Shin, “We customarily give out gift certificates to our employees near the New Year holiday every year, and I have prepared the same for your party members.”

The prosecution arrested Kim for fraud and misappropriation and indicted Rep. Shin without physical restraint for violating the Political Fund Law.

Tae-Hoon Lee jefflee@donga.com