Former People Power Party lawmaker Kwak Sang-do (64), who is being investigated for suspicions about the ‘Daejang-dong 5 billion club’, appeared at the prosecution on the 25th, eight months after being acquitted in the first trial.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office Anti-Corruption Investigation Department 1 (Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin) has been investigating former lawmaker Kwak as a suspect in violation of the Crime Proceeds Concealment Control Act from 10 a.m. on this day.
It is reported that the prosecution is questioning former lawmaker Kwak about his economic relationship with his son, Kwak Byeong-chae, and the nature of the money Byeong-chae토스카지노 received from Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management in the name of severance pay.
Former lawmaker Kwak, who arrived at the prosecutor’s office at 9:51 a.m., was asked by reporters, “Have you ever exercised influence on Hana Bank?” He responded, “The prosecution has been investigating for two years, but there is no data related to me. It has nothing to do with me.” As before, he denied the charges.
Regarding the reason why his son Byeong-chae paid the bail deposit, he claimed, “I was in custody and my wife died, so I had no family at home,” and “I repaid it immediately after I was released from prison.”
He also denied the suspicion that his son used former lawmaker Kwak’s wife’s credit card or received support for a deposit for a lease even after getting a job, and asked, “(The prosecution says that my son and myself) are part of an economic community, but isn’t it an economic community that we supported once or twice?”
He is accused of receiving 5 billion won (2.5 billion won after tax) as severance pay through his son Byeong-chae, who worked at Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, pretending that it was money he received legally.
The prosecution believes that former lawmaker Kwak received this money in return for acting as a ‘resolver’ in 2015 when the Seongnam Uiteul consortium of Daejang-dong’s group, including Hwacheon Dayyu majority shareholder Kim Man-bae, was on the verge of collapse due to Hana Bank’s departure.
It is said that he used his influence on Hana Bank to prevent the consortium from leaving and in return received 5 billion won through Byeongchae.
In February last year, the prosecution indicted former lawmaker Kwak on charges of bribery under the Aggravated Punishment for Specific Economic Crimes Act and bribery under the Aggravated Punishment for Specific Economic Crimes Act.
However, the first trial court found former Rep. Kwak not guilty on the charge of brokering, saying, “It is difficult to conclude that there was a crisis of leaving the Hana Bank consortium, and it is difficult to say that former Rep. Kwak actually exerted influence on Hana Financial Group.”
Regarding the charge of bribery, he was found not guilty, saying that although the severance pay of 5 billion won was excessive according to social norms, the charge was not proven to the extent that former lawmaker Kwak received it directly. The prosecution’s argument that former Rep. Kwak and his wife were an economic community was rejected.
The prosecution immediately appealed against the first trial ruling, booked Mr. Byeong-chae as an accomplice to bribery, and additionally charged the father and son of former lawmaker Kwak with violating the Act on Concealment of Crime Proceeds and conducted a supplementary investigation.
It is said that the prosecution strengthened the logic of the economic community by capturing new circumstances such as Byeong-chae’s graduate school tuition of 30 million won from an account in the name of former lawmaker Kwak and supporting Byeong-chae’s deposit of 20 million won for a lease.
Based on the results of today’s investigation, the prosecution plans to soon decide on the direction of disposition of former Rep. Kwak’s father and son.