Evidence Found Linking Taekwang CEO to Bribery

Prosecutors are reportedly comparing and analyzing the transaction records of Taekwang Industry’s corporate credit cards with a list of politicians and high-ranking officials the company’s CEO Park Yeon-cha contacted, according to a notebook that prosecutors secured from Park’s secretary.

Sources said yesterday that with prosecutors securing the list of people Park met from the notebook and how the firm’s corporate credit cards were used in the Roh Moo-hyun administration (2003-07), the National Tax Service has submitted its findings and analysis to prosecutors.

Park allegedly withdrew tens of thousands of dollars every day from borrowed name accounts over a certain period. Prosecutors plan to summon Park this week to question him on how the money was spent.

The entire prosecution team in charge of investigating Taekwang’s alleged tax evasion through its Hong Kong branch and irregularities in its acquisition of Huchems, a Nonghyup affiliate, reported for work even on Sunday to analyze records submitted by tax authorities.

Prosecutors are also examining whether inside information on the sale of Sejong Securities to Nonghyup was leaked to Park, given that he earned nearly 20 billion won (13.6 U.S. million dollars) from trading stocks related to the brokerage in 2005.

Meanwhile, Roh Gun-pyeong, the elder brother of the former president who is under arrest on charges of receiving three billion won (2.03 million dollars) from Sejong Capital in return for lobbying Nonghyup to purchase the troubled money lender, rested at a lockup facility in Seoul over the weekend without being questioned because he claimed to be suffering from exhaustion.

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