Rep. Lee Hyung-seok: "Police Investigation Inadequate in Negotiations for Gwangju Second Ring Road"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] The Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency is under suspicion of conducting a lenient investigation into Macquarie Korea Infrastructure Investment Company (hereinafter Macquarie), a multinational investment firm holding 100% of the shares of the Section 1 project operator of the Gwangju 2nd Ring Road, amid an investigation into the restructuring negotiations of the Section 1 project.

In particular, it has been revealed that the Gwangju police did not investigate at all the process of forming the negotiation team, which was the starting point of the hasty and poor negotiations, intensifying the controversy.

On the 23rd, Rep. Lee Hyung-seok (Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Buk-gu Eul) announced that after analyzing the first trial judgment of the Gwangju District Court regarding Mr. A, who conducted illegal lobbying during the restructuring negotiations of the Section 1 project of the 2nd Ring Road between Gwangju City and Macquarie, he found suspicions of a sloppy and minimized police investigation.

In June, Judge Yoon Bong-hak of the Gwangju District Court Criminal Division 6 sentenced Mr. A, who was indicted on charges including violation of the Attorney-at-Law Act, bribery, and embezzlement and breach of trust in the course of duty, to 3 years and 6 months in prison and ordered his detention in court.

Rep. Lee explained that Macquarie is presumed to have arranged through broker Mr. Kim to exclude accountant Mr. B, who was like a "thorn in the side," from the negotiation team in January 2016, before formal negotiations with Gwangju City began. Accountant B was the key figure who corrected the structure of the 'Beoman-ro Private Investment Project' through negotiations with Macquarie while serving as an auditor in Daegu City, saving 200 billion KRW in budget. Subsequently, Seoul City and others benchmarked his negotiation case, saving trillions of won in budgets.

Accountant B confidently told then Gwangju Mayor Yoon Jang-hyun that he could save 500 billion KRW in budget, and Gwangju City planned to conclude an advisory negotiation with Accountant B, but due to Macquarie's lobbying, he was unable to participate in the negotiations, Rep. Lee added.

According to the Gwangju District Court judgment, after Accountant B was excluded, the Section 1 project operator, a subsidiary of Macquarie, and broker Mr. A signed a toll collection service contract worth as much as 3 billion KRW.

Rep. Lee stated, "The restructuring negotiations of the Gwangju Ring Road were arranged by the broker who received lobbying from Macquarie so that the negotiation team was formed to become a 'Macquarie by Macquarie for Macquarie' negotiation after the expert who stood for Gwangju City's interests was excluded, yet the Gwangju police did not conduct any investigation. It was even revealed that not a single phone call or witness interview was conducted with Accountant B," he claimed.

He continued, "Furthermore, Mr. C, the general executive of Macquarie's subsidiary, met broker Mr. A at a restaurant in Gwangju in September 2016 and offered a large stake in exchange for leading the negotiations favorably for Macquarie. Subsequently, after broker Mr. A secured a favorable negotiation plan, about 500 million KRW was transferred to a 'paper company' managed by Mr. A's younger brother, as stated in the Gwangju District Court judgment," he emphasized.

He also urged, "A thorough fact-finding investigation into the overall investigation of the restructuring negotiations of the Gwangju 2nd Ring Road Section 1 project is necessary. Especially since there is clear evidence that Macquarie personnel engaged in illegal lobbying but escaped the police investigation net, a reinvestigation should also be considered," he added.

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