Only 12 Days Left... Prosecution Expected to Investigate Lee Jae-myung on 'Lawyer Fee Payment Suspicion'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] With Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party of Korea elected as party leader, investigations by the prosecution and police targeting him are expected to accelerate. This is because the burden of the investigation potentially affecting the party primary has been alleviated. Legal circles predict that the prosecution will directly investigate Lee this week, as the statute of limitations for the 'allegation of lawyer fee payment on behalf' case is nearing expiration.

According to legal sources on the 29th, the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office Integrated Investigation Team (led by Deputy Chief Prosecutor Kim Hyung-rok) conducted a raid over the past weekend on the headquarters of Ssangbangwool Group in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and about ten affiliated companies, and has been intensively analyzing the secured materials. Based on this, the investigation is expected to enter its final stages this week. The investigation team is linking the 'allegation of lawyer fee payment on behalf' with the 'embezzlement and breach of trust by Ssangbangwool Group,' seeing multiple connections between the two cases. In particular, the statute of limitations for the 'allegation of lawyer fee payment on behalf' is set to expire on the 9th of next month, so a conclusion must be reached within about 12 days.

Legal circles increasingly believe that the prosecution will now question Lee, the subject of the allegations, directly. It is said that they will confirm the overall allegations with him. The method is expected to be a written investigation rather than a summons.

The direction of the investigation into Lee will likely depend on how sufficient evidence the prosecution has collected so far. The prosecution's investigation into the 'allegation of lawyer fee payment on behalf' gained momentum after the change of administration. Recently, the Criminal Division 6, which handled the Ssangbangwool case, and the Public Investigation Division, which investigated the lawyer fee payment case, were combined to form an integrated investigation team, pooling investigative resources. The allegation is that Lee, while serving as governor of Gyeonggi Province in 2018, paid large sums of legal fees on behalf of lawyers handling a public official election law violation case using convertible bonds from Ssangbangwool Group. In the case of lawyer Lee Tae-hyung, there is suspicion that he received about 2 billion KRW in cash and stocks. Regarding this, Lee has denied the allegations, stating, "I spent 30 million KRW on lawyer fees and paid all of it directly." Ssangbangwool's side also maintains that the claims are "groundless."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

While considering questioning Lee, the prosecution is also expected to focus on securing the custody of key figures who can clarify the allegations. Recently, the investigation team requested Interpol to issue red notices for former and current Ssangbangwool chairmen Kim Sung-tae and Yang Seon-gil, as well as Ssangbangwool registered director Lee Gyu-hwa. KH Group is also under investigation. The chairman of this group is known to have a close relationship with former chairman Kim, and the prosecution is reportedly examining whether the convertible bonds and other financial transactions between the two companies are linked to Lee's alleged payment of lawyer fees. The prosecution also conducted a raid on KH Group on the 25th in connection with this matter.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency transferred a case related to Lee's so-called 'Baekhyeon-dong preferential treatment allegation' to the Seongnam Branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office on the 26th. This case was filed by the People Power Party on charges of violating election laws. It concerns allegations that Lee made false statements regarding preferential treatment in changing the land use of the Baekhyeon-dong Korean Food Research Institute site during the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's Gyeonggi Province audit on October 20 last year, while he was serving as governor and after being selected as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate.

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