An idiotic Mofia

It was a surprise back in January 2005 when Byeon Yang-ho, head of the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit under the Finance Ministry, tendered a resignation letter to create a private equity fund. As many believed that he would be a minister someday, his decision was the talk of the town. It was partly attributable to his outstanding career and academic background; he graduated from prestigious Kyunggi High School and Seoul National University with a business major, and topped the Civil Service Examination. He served as the director of Finance Policy Department of the Finance Ministry, the so-called "cream of the crop of the Mofia," for 34 months, the longest period among his colleagues in the ministry. Mofia, a compound word of the Ministry of Finance and Economy and Mafia, describes former Finance Ministry officials landing on the top positions in the private sector wielding strong influence.

But 18 months later, he was arrested by prosecutors on his way to work in the morning of June 12, 2006 for allegedly taking bribes of 200 million won (171,900 U.S. dollars). He believed that he would be released immediately because he did not take the money, but it was his misjudgment. While serving in prison for 292 days, Byeon went to the court room 141 times, went through warrant investigations for three times, and was sentenced 11 times. He was acquitted in the Seoul Central District Court in January 2007, then convicted in the appellate court in August 2008, and acquitted again in the Highest Court in January 2009, which was an epic with twists and turns. Once someone simply states that a high-ranking official took bribes, prosecutors conduct an arrest investigation as a practice. The suspect should prove that he or she did not take the money in prison, such a disadvantageous place.

During the bribery investigation on him, prosecutors arrested and charged him again for allegedly selling Korea Exchange Bank at a bargain to Lone Star Funds, a foreign private equity firm. It was a so-called “unusual investigation,” which is a “dirty” investigation method to find additional corruption charges with a dragnet apart from the main case. But he was found not guilty in the all three trials. The Central Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office simply fumbled. Byeon lost in despair as he had been in and out of prison for 52 months until the last trial in Oct. 14, 2010, and his family and company were devastated.

Byeon recently released a book on his story about the unfair punishment. It is entitled “The Byeon Yang-ho Syndrome – My God I met at emergency arrest” and published by Hongsungsa. According to Byeon, he wrote the book to prevent other innocent victims by prosecutors’ unfair investigation. The book was published after much meandering in five years because prosecutors sensed that he gave a draft to the publisher in 2008. He was so upset that he cried numerous times in prison. He felt so badly how weak a human being is. It is tearful that his only daughter Eun-soo prayed for her father with tears to rescue him. Through the book, Byeon shared a lot of pages for God he met in prison and his faith. “I was in tremendous pain as I had to serve in prison without committing any crime. But now I am much happier. I forgave prosecutors. I forgave him who claimed that he gave bribes to me. I had special blessings. Suffering has become a gift,” said Byeon.

He also pointed out invincible power of prosecutors, the monopoly of prosecution by prosecutors, the side effects of the discretion of prosecution by prosecutors, and the problems of bribery investigation of high-ranking officials that simply rely on testimonies in the book, albeit shorter than in the draft. He describes prosecutors who try to appease suspects to put the powerful in prison, saying, “Tell me those who has more power, then I’ll cut your prison sentence and fines.” This clearly shows the reality of Korean prosecutors who try to bargain with suspects. He testifies prosecutors calling a suspect to the investigation room and browbeating him until they get the answer that they want, the practice putting a suspect in prison before an investigation, and prosecutors threatening a suspect with another indictment unless he cooperates with their probe.

Park Yeong-soo, former head of the Central Investigation Division of the Supreme Prosecutors` Office who harshly investigated Byeon, resigned. Chae Dong-wook, a prosecutor who reported to Park, is the Attorney General. The state did not compensate Byeon who was ruled innocent. The court dismissed the compensation claims lawsuit against Kim Dong-hoon, a former representative of Ahnkwon Accounting Firm, who falsely stated that he gave bribes to Byeon. He seems to be an idiot. He says he forgives everyone even after much pain and suffering from prosecutors. Byeon was a Mofia who did not dare to have the privilege of getting a decent seat in the private sector and getting a favor as an ex-government official. Hopefully, President Park could read his book this summer, not to mention the “Mofias” and prosecutors.