Ex-Roh
aide held on new graft charge
Prosecutors yesterday detained one of Roh Moo-hyun's key associates as
they prepare to summon the former president, possibly late this week, to
investigate his alleged corruption.
They
found Chung Sang-moon, Roh's friend and former secretary, keeps hundreds of millions of won in secret bank
accounts. They suspect he may have received the money illicitly from
businesses.
Chung
is widely believed to be a middleman between Park Yeon-cha,
a businessman indicted for bribery, and Roh and his
wife Kwon Yang-suk.
This
is the second time Chung has been in custody. Prosecutors sought an arrest
warrant for him April 9. He took about 1.3 billion won from Park between 2006
and 2007. Prosecutors had claimed that he pocketed 300 million won and
delivered the remainder to the president.
A
court refused to issue the warrant after the former first couple said Chung
delivered all the money to Kwon.
Prosecutors
recently found that the 300 million won remains in one of the borrowed-name
accounts whose real owner is Chung.
Roh and his wife lied to block the arrest of Chung, who is
crucial to the scandal, prosecutors suspect.
"In
a foreign country, such a falsification would be punished for obstructing
prosecution," Hong Man-pyo, senior prosecutor in
charge at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, told reporters.
Prosecutors
are looking into whether the remainder in his accounts was his or was meant to
go to Roh. Prosecutors plan to seek an arrest warrant
against Chung today.
Prosecutors
are struggling to find evidence that the former president received bribes.
They
claim Chung relayed $1 million and 300 million won from Park to Roh. Roh said his wife received
it without his knowledge.
Prosecutors
are gearing up to summon Roh as early as this
weekend, sources said.
Observers
say the prosecution may try to avoid questioning Roh
just before the April 29 by-elections in order not to affect the outcome. The
main opposition Democratic Party has argued that the inquiry was politically
motivated.
Investigators
have also been probing the $6 million Park gave to one of Roh's
in-laws and wife, which they suspect may have been channeled to Roh.
Roh has claimed through postings on his internet homepage
that he was not aware of the money transfer during his presidency. Critics have
denounced the claim as an attempt to evade bribery charges subject to a
sentence of 10 years or more.
Roh earlier stated that his wife Kwon borrowed $1 million
from Park through his former secretary Chung in June 2007. Yeon
Cheol-ho, the husband of Roh's
niece, received $5 million from Park in February last year, just days before Roh left office.
Prosecutors
have tentatively concluded that the $5 million Yeon
received from Park has actually been managed by Roh's
son Geon-ho. They found that $3 million of the money was forwarded to a firm
where Geon-ho is listed as a major shareholder.
Some
of the $3 million was then invested into a firm where Geon-ho held a stake and
into another owned by the brother of Roh's wife.
Prosecutors
have been also probing the three-way meeting in which Changshin
Textile chairman Kang Keum-won, another key sponsor
of Roh, Park and Chung met in August 2007 to discuss
the establishment of a foundation to help Roh after
his presidential term expired.
Kang
told media that Park during the meeting suggested using his slush funds worth
$5 million in Hong Kong, which was believed to
be forwarded to Yeon later.
Other
than bribery allegations, Roh is also facing
questioning in connection with two accusations. In July last year, a
conservative civic group accused him of leaking state presidential records. Roh had made available his presidential documents at his
residence in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang
Province.
In
December last year, a family of the late Nam Sang-guk,
former president of Daewoo Construction, filed a defamation suit against Roh.
Nam threw himself into the
Han River in March 2004 while being
investigated for bribery. His suicide came immediately after Roh rebuked Nam
for having attempted to bribe his brother during a news conference.
Source:
Korea
Herald