Prosecution Seeks 3-Year Prison Sentence for Former Daegu High Prosecutor General Yoon Gap-geun Over 'Lime Lobby' Allegations

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The prosecution has requested a prison sentence for former Daegu High Prosecutor General Yoon Gap-geun, who was indicted on charges of lobbying Woori Bank to resume sales of Lime Asset Management funds.

On the 16th, at the sentencing hearing of former Prosecutor General Yoon held by the Criminal Division 13 of the Seoul Southern District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Sang-joo), the prosecution requested, "Please sentence the defendant to three years in prison and impose a fine of 220 million won."

The prosecution explained, "The defendant requested the president of Woori Bank to allow the resale of Lime Asset Management funds and received a financial gain of 220 million won in return. Despite the charges being proven by testimonies of related parties and objective evidence, he denies the allegations, so strict punishment is necessary."

Earlier, former Prosecutor General Yoon was arrested and indicted on charges of bribery for receiving 220 million won into a law firm account as a reward after being asked by former Lime Vice President Lee Jong-pil and Chairman Kim of Metropolitan Group in July 2019 to meet the president of Woori Bank and have the funds resold.

Yoon’s side admitted to meeting Woori Bank President Sohn Tae-seung twice in July 2019 but claimed that no lobbying to resell the funds was made.

The defense argued, "The claim that 220 million won was received as a bribe is a unilateral assumption by the prosecution regarding normal advisory fee transfers," and added, "Chairman Kim of Metropolitan, who handed over the money, also submitted a statement confirming it was not a bribe." Furthermore, "The prosecution indicted the defendant based solely on some statements by Lee Jong-pil, who is not even a party to the advisory contract, but Lee corrected in court that no bribe was given," and "The defendant only performed normal duties as a lawyer and is unrelated to the Lime incident."

Kim Bong-hyun, former chairman of Star Mobility and a key figure in the Lime scandal, claimed in a prison statement last year, "I paid tens of millions of won to a prominent opposition politician who was a former prosecutor general and a lawyer over the Lime fund lobbying case, and also lobbied the president and vice president of Woori Bank." Subsequently, the prosecution launched a full-scale investigation by raiding Woori Financial Group and former Prosecutor General Yoon’s office, and secured Yoon’s custody in November last year.

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