Chairman of Credit Information Company Who Gave Money to Yoo Jae-su: "I Tried to Help Because We Were Close"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The chairman of a credit information company who provided money and goods to Yoo Jae-soo (55), former Deputy Mayor of Busan for Economic Affairs, testified that he was close to Yoo and tried to help him, and that this was not a bribe.

The Criminal Division 11 of the Seoul Eastern District Court (Chief Judge Son Joo-chul) held the fourth trial of former Deputy Mayor Yoo on charges of bribery and others on the 1st.

Yoon Mo (71), chairman of the credit information company who appeared as a witness that day, testified that he provided money and goods worth about 20 million won to former Deputy Mayor Yoo for about eight years from 2010, saying, "My relationship with Yoo Jae-soo is closer than relatives and is a special relationship."

The prosecution has identified that in 2010, when former Deputy Mayor Yoo was working at the Financial Services Commission and was about to be dispatched to the United States, Yoon lent 250 million won interest-free to purchase an apartment located in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, and when the apartment price fell, he did not receive 10 million won back from that amount.

Regarding this, Yoon said that he recommended the apartment transaction himself and did not receive the 10 million won loan because he felt sorry that the house price had dropped.

In addition, Yoon paid for 200 copies of Yoo’s book on his behalf from 2013 to 2018 and sent the books to Yoo, and sent holiday gifts to Yoo’s subordinate employees three times. Yoon said that regarding the payment of the book price and the proxy sending of holiday gifts, Yoo hinted that there were difficulties after moving from the Financial Services Commission to Busan City, so he tried to help.

Yoon also gave 1 million won to Yoo’s children as pocket money, saying, "I thought of them like grandchildren and gave them pocket money."

However, Yoon Mo (44), the CEO of the same credit information company and Yoon’s son, gave a different testimony from his father in court that morning. CEO Yoon carried out tasks such as sending Korean beef sets in Yoo’s name during holidays under his father’s instructions.

CEO Yoon testified, "My father has had a human relationship with Yoo Jae-soo for over 20 years and was close," adding, "I think he wanted to maintain a good relationship because there might be parts where he could receive help while running the company in the future."

Meanwhile, former Deputy Mayor Yoo was arrested and indicted last December on charges of receiving money and benefits worth a total of 49.5 million won from four financial company representatives and others, and committing corrupt acts around the time of his tenure at the Financial Services Commission from 2010 to 2018.

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