Prosecutors to Soon Decide on Indictment of Yoon Seok-yeol's Mother-in-Law for 'Bank Balance Certificate Forgery' Allegation

On the 18th, equipment belonging to reporters waiting for the appearance of Choi, the mother-in-law of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, was placed in front of the entrance of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office on Nokyang-ro, Uijeongbu-si, Gyeonggi-do.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The prosecution is expected to soon decide whether to take legal action against Choi Mo (74), the mother-in-law of Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, who is under investigation for forging a deposit balance certificate, according to reports on the 27th.

With the statute of limitations for the charge of forgery of private documents expiring on the 1st of next month, and the Criminal Division 1 of Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Jeong Hyo-sam) having completed summons investigations, the decision on whether to indict Choi is expected to be finalized by early next week at the latest.

Choi is accused of forging deposit balance certificates worth hundreds of billions of won during the process of purchasing land in Dochon-dong, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, together with business partner Ahn Mo (58) in 2013.

However, within the prosecution, there is a prevailing view that it is difficult to hold Choi responsible for the use of forged private documents, and even if she is brought to trial on charges of forgery of private documents, maintaining the prosecution would not be easy.

Currently, testimonies between Choi and Ahn are conflicting. Choi claims she was deceived by Ahn into creating false balance certificates as a victim and that she did not know exactly what purpose Ahn intended to use them for at the time.

The crime of forgery of private documents requires the essential element of 'intent to use' for the crime to be established, and Choi argues that she lacked awareness of this. Additionally, the fact that the victim whose name was actually misused did not file a complaint is also a factor under consideration.

Meanwhile, Choi is also involved in another complaint case besides the forgery charge, which was transferred last week from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office to the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors' Office. It is uncertain whether the prosecution will handle this case together with the forgery case in a consolidated legal process.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.