'40 Billion Won Allegation Against Hwacheon Daeyu'... Former Seongnam City Council Chairman Choi Yoon-gil Arrested (Update)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] Choi Yoon-gil, former chairman of the Seongnam City Council, who is accused of receiving a large performance bonus from Hwacheon Daeyu, a private business operator that reaped huge profits from the Daejang-dong development project, has been detained.

On the 18th, Judge Oh Dae-seok of Suwon District Court, who is in charge of warrants, issued an arrest warrant for former Chairman Choi around 9 p.m., stating, "The criminal charges have been substantiated and there is a concern of evidence tampering."

Earlier, the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency, investigating allegations of preferential treatment in the Daejang-dong development project, applied for an arrest warrant for former Chairman Choi on charges of bribery after the fact, and the prosecution accepted this and requested the court.

Former Chairman Choi is accused of receiving a salary of 100 million won and agreeing to receive a performance bonus of over 4 billion won after serving as vice chairman of Hwacheon Daeyu in 2020, in return for assisting Hwacheon Daeyu by passing the ordinance to establish the Seongnam Urban Development Corporation for the Daejang-dong public-private joint development during his tenure as city council chairman in 2013.

In particular, the police believe that in March 2012, former Chairman Choi received a request from Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu, saying, "If you pass the ordinance to establish the corporation, I will appoint you later," and that he played a leading role in the actual passage of the ordinance. The police reportedly stated in the arrest warrant application, which is over 30 pages long, that former Chairman Choi attempted to coordinate statements with a resident named Lee, who was the chairman of the Daejang-dong Urban Development Promotion Committee around October to November last year.

However, former Chairman Choi has denied all related charges. His side has stated, "After the ordinance to establish the corporation was passed in 2013, we first met Kim through accountant Jung Young-hak and never received any requests related to the establishment of the corporation."

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