Prosecutors Summon Complainant in Yoon Woo-jin Sponsor Allegation... Witness Investigation

Seocho-dong, Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Seoul. / Photo by Seokjin Choi

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The prosecution investigating allegations related to Yoon Woo-jin, former head of the Yongsan Tax Office and elder brother of Yoon Dae-jin, head of planning at the Legal Research and Training Institute and close aide to former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, has summoned Jeon Jeong-in, who filed a petition, for questioning regarding suspicions that Yoon Woo-jin had sponsors.

According to the legal community on the 26th, the Anti-Corruption and Violent Crime Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Jeong Yong-hwan) summoned real estate developer A, who filed the petition, as a witness yesterday to investigate allegations that former Tax Office head Yoon received money and gifts from a sponsor businessman and introduced legal professionals.

The prosecution had previously summoned Mr. A for questioning at the end of last year. The investigation, which had been suspended, appears to have resumed in earnest after the case was reassigned from the Criminal Division 13 to the preliminary investigation department nine months later.

According to reports, Mr. A claimed in his petition that he suffered financial damages from Choi, a close aide to former Tax Office head Yoon, in November last year and was mobilized to attend entertainment gatherings hosted by Yoon, introduced by Choi.

From around 2018 to 2019, the entertainment gatherings Mr. A was called to included current and former prosecutors, senior officials from the National Tax Service, and police, and Mr. A claimed he paid for meals and golf expenses multiple times. Mr. A also stated that he provided Yoon with lobbying funds amounting to hundreds of millions of won from 2016 to 2018 related to development permits.

Mr. A further claimed that he heard from Mr. B, the representative of a timber-related company, that Yoon introduced a former prosecutor-turned-lawyer, and that Mr. B also provided money and gifts to Yoon, including VIP hotel tickets.

Separately, the Criminal Division 13 of the Central District Prosecutors' Office is investigating allegations that former Tax Office head Yoon received bribes such as golf outings from meat importers around 2013 and that the prosecution covered up the case.

Yoon left the country during a police investigation in 2012, was arrested overseas and forcibly repatriated, but was cleared of charges by the prosecution in 2015.

At that time, controversy arose as the police's search warrants for the golf course where Yoon allegedly played golf with meat importers were rejected six times by the prosecution.

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