Police Suspect Bribery Between Builder, Paju City Hall

Police in Gyeonggi Province yesterday raided the head office of a construction company and the Paju City Hall in connection with bribery allegations in the bid for a general community center in Gyoha New Town.

Twenty-two officers comprising three teams raided the head office of the builder in Seoul’s downtown Jongno district, the balanced development division at the Paju City Hall, and the home of a manager at the builder in Seoul’s Guro district.

The manager is suspected of using gift certificates to bribe a university professor who is on the bid review committee.

Police said the builder lobbied other committee members. After analyzing data they seized in the raids, they will summon figures from the construction company.

Investigators want to how the builder acquired the list of the committee members and whether it bribed them.

The professor told The Dong-A Ilbo, “A staff member from the builder came to me and tried to give me valuable items,” adding, “But I immediately rejected the offer even without opening the envelope.”

In the raids, police seized two computers and documents used in the bidding from the builder, and four computers, USB memory sticks, notebook PCs, progress reports on the general communication center, the process of committee member selection, and bid results.

They also secured nine bankbooks from the manager’s residence and are now tracing the flow of money to determine if illicit lobbying occurred. A police source said, “We conducted the raids to find evidence and prevent destruction of evidence.”

Police summoned the professor as a witness Tuesday and secured his testimony. They also called in two officials from Paju City Hall and probed the bid review process Wednesday.

yunjung@donga.com