ID :
191373
Mon, 06/27/2011 - 16:55
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https://oananews.org//node/191373
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Court rejects request for warrant to arrest former presidential aide
ATTN: UPDATES with comments by prosecutors' office and former opposition lawmaker; minor edits)
SEOUL (Yonhap) - A judge on Monday dropped an arrest warrant against a former presidential aide over his alleged bribery over a suspended savings bank.
Kim Hae-soo has been accused of having received 20 million won (US$18,400) from a Busan Savings Bank lobbyist last year in return for influence-peddling to help secure a construction project sought by the bank.
Kim is also suspected to have received about 60 million won ($55,250) in illegal political donations from the bank in 2008 when he unsuccessfully ran for a parliamentary seat for Incheon, west of Seoul.
Kim, who served as a secretary to President Lee Myung-bak from 2008 to 2010, admitted he knew the lobbyist personally, but denied the charges, according to the prosecution.
The Seoul Central District Court rejected prosecutors' request to issue an arrest warrant for Kim on Monday evening, citing the possibility of contested charges.
Judge Kim Sang-hwan also said there is no concern that Kim, who currently heads the state-run Korea Construction Management Corp., could destroy evidence or flee.
The prosecutors' office said it will decide whether to make another request for an arrest warrant against Kim.
It is the first time that an arrest warrant has been rejected in the scandal involving the lender, whose business was suspended by the financial regulator earlier in the year due to feeble financial strength.
The bank was found to have sought the influence of many high-level officials and politicians in order to avoid regulatory oversight and punishment.
Separately, prosecutors grilled former opposition lawmaker Suh Gab-won for several hours over allegations that he took 30 million won from the bank's vice chairman in 2008.
Suh denied the charges in a brief encounter with reporters as he walked out of the prosecutors' office on Monday night.
Also Monday, prosecutors questioned Gong Sung-jin, a former lawmaker of the ruling Grand National Party, over allegations that he took bribes from another suspended lender, Samhwa Mutual Savings Bank.
South Korea's financial regulator has suspended operations of eight savings banks that were found to have resorted to bribing regulators and politicians in order to cover up their worsening financial strength, mainly resulting from heavy exposure to property loans.
SEOUL (Yonhap) - A judge on Monday dropped an arrest warrant against a former presidential aide over his alleged bribery over a suspended savings bank.
Kim Hae-soo has been accused of having received 20 million won (US$18,400) from a Busan Savings Bank lobbyist last year in return for influence-peddling to help secure a construction project sought by the bank.
Kim is also suspected to have received about 60 million won ($55,250) in illegal political donations from the bank in 2008 when he unsuccessfully ran for a parliamentary seat for Incheon, west of Seoul.
Kim, who served as a secretary to President Lee Myung-bak from 2008 to 2010, admitted he knew the lobbyist personally, but denied the charges, according to the prosecution.
The Seoul Central District Court rejected prosecutors' request to issue an arrest warrant for Kim on Monday evening, citing the possibility of contested charges.
Judge Kim Sang-hwan also said there is no concern that Kim, who currently heads the state-run Korea Construction Management Corp., could destroy evidence or flee.
The prosecutors' office said it will decide whether to make another request for an arrest warrant against Kim.
It is the first time that an arrest warrant has been rejected in the scandal involving the lender, whose business was suspended by the financial regulator earlier in the year due to feeble financial strength.
The bank was found to have sought the influence of many high-level officials and politicians in order to avoid regulatory oversight and punishment.
Separately, prosecutors grilled former opposition lawmaker Suh Gab-won for several hours over allegations that he took 30 million won from the bank's vice chairman in 2008.
Suh denied the charges in a brief encounter with reporters as he walked out of the prosecutors' office on Monday night.
Also Monday, prosecutors questioned Gong Sung-jin, a former lawmaker of the ruling Grand National Party, over allegations that he took bribes from another suspended lender, Samhwa Mutual Savings Bank.
South Korea's financial regulator has suspended operations of eight savings banks that were found to have resorted to bribing regulators and politicians in order to cover up their worsening financial strength, mainly resulting from heavy exposure to property loans.
