Former Yongsan Tax Office Chief Yoon Woo-jin, Accused of Sponsorship, Appears in Court for Detention Hearing

Silent in response to reporters' questions

Former Yongsan Tax Office Chief Yoon Woo-jin, who is accused of acting as a broker by receiving bribes from a businessman in exchange for quashing a tax investigation, is appearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 7th for a pre-arrest detention hearing. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The decision on whether to detain Yoon Woojin, former head of the Yongsan Tax Office, who is accused of acting as a broker receiving bribes from businessmen, will be made on the 7th. He is the older brother of Yoon Daejin, Planning Director (Chief Prosecutor) at the Legal Research and Training Institute and a close aide to Yoon Seokyeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate. If the prosecution succeeds in securing custody of former Director Yoon, investigations are expected to expand to public officials who actually received requests from him.

From 10:30 a.m. on this day, Judge Lee Sechang, in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, is conducting the pre-detention suspect interrogation (warrant substantive examination) for former Director Yoon. Upon arriving at the court, Yoon entered the courtroom without responding to reporters' questions such as "How do you feel about today's detention hearing?" and "Do you admit the charges?" His detention decision is expected to be made later this afternoon or in the early hours of the 8th.

Earlier, on the 3rd, the Anti-Corruption and Strong Investigation Division 1 (Chief Prosecutor Jeong Yonghwan) of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office filed a pre-detention warrant for former Director Yoon.

Former Director Yoon is accused of receiving money and valuables from so-called "sponsors," including real estate developer A from the Incheon area, and introducing them to legal circles and tax authorities. The prosecution believes that from 2017 until last year, Yoon received approximately 130 million KRW worth of money and valuables in three installments from A and two others. Additionally, the prosecution views that Yoon received money from a corporation last year as a fee for legal service referrals.

In a petition submitted to the prosecution at the end of last year, A claimed that from 2018 to 2019, former Director Yoon was frequently summoned to meetings with current and former prosecutors, senior officials from the National Tax Service, and police, where he paid for meals and golf expenses multiple times. The prosecution summoned former Director Yoon on the 1st of last month to question him about these allegations and conducted a confrontation investigation with A on the 18th of the same month. Choi, a close aide accused of colluding with former Director Yoon to pocket bribes, was indicted in detention last October.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Division 13 (Chief Prosecutor Im Daehyuk) of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is also investigating allegations that former Director Yoon received golf entertainment and bribes from meat importers and others between 2010 and 2011, and that the prosecution at the time suppressed the investigation by dismissing police search warrants.

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