'Seongnam FC Sponsorship Fund Suspicion' Investigated in Two Directions... Only One Thread Untangled

Police Conclude Investigation into Bribery and Embezzlement Charges

Lee Jae-myung, Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea / Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The police investigation into Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, regarding the 'Seongnam FC sponsorship fund allegations' was conducted in two main directions. The first was the bribery allegation that Lee, while serving as mayor of Seongnam, facilitated corporate facility issues in exchange for having the civic football club Seongnam FC, of which he is the club owner, sponsored. The second was the embezzlement allegation that he used the sponsorship funds received from companies as his election funds. In this supplementary investigation, the police judged that there was evidence of bribery but found no evidence of embezzlement.

Third-Party Bribery... Doosan Construction Recognized as 'Quid Pro Quo'

The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency announced on the 13th that they had reported to the prosecution the supplementary investigation results recognizing Lee's guilt in third-party bribery. The crime of third-party bribery under criminal law applies when a public official receives an illicit request related to their duties and causes a third party to provide a bribe or demands or promises such a bribe. The police judged that in 2015, Seongnam City changed the use of a hospital site in Jeongja-dong, Bundang-gu, owned by the Doosan Group, to office facilities and reduced the area to be donated from 15% to 10% as a quid pro quo, receiving approximately 5 billion KRW from Doosan as advertising sponsorship funds for Seongnam FC. They also viewed the sponsorship funds received by Seongnam FC as acts aligned with Lee's political interests.

Under criminal law, proving 'quid pro quo' is key to third-party bribery charges. The police believed that if Doosan Construction had not promised sponsorship to Seongnam FC, the land use change would have been impossible, and they reportedly uncovered circumstances discussing Seongnam City's specific demands. It was also confirmed that Doosan Construction sent an official letter to Seongnam City in October 2014 stating, "If the use is changed to allow building a new headquarters on the hospital site, we will sponsor Seongnam FC."

The police had decided not to prosecute last September due to insufficient evidence but reversed the decision after the prosecution requested a supplementary investigation, conducting a reinvestigation from February this year. A police official said, "The conclusion was reached after reviewing materials obtained through voluntary and compulsory investigations during the supplementary investigation and analyzing various precedents." However, among the six companies that provided advertising sponsorship funds to Seongnam FC, the police found no charges against Naver, Nonghyup, Bundang CHA Hospital, Alphadom City, and Hyundai Department Store, excluding Doosan Construction, as in the first investigation.

The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency investigating the Hwaseong serial murder case

Unclear Use of Sponsorship Funds... No Charges for Embezzlement

The police also closed the supplementary investigation without applying embezzlement charges against Lee. The accusers initially raised suspicions that some of the sponsorship funds received by Seongnam FC from companies were laundered and used as Lee's election funds. The police paid attention to the unclear use of some sponsorship funds and conducted investigations. However, during the investigation, no evidence was found of Lee or his associates withdrawing funds.

It is known that the police examined the use of sponsorship funds through materials secured during the May raid on Seongnam FC and Doosan Construction. In this process, they confirmed that some sponsorship funds were paid to specific individuals. However, it was judged that this was not problematic as it was in accordance with Seongnam FC's revenue performance bonus policy, which allows up to 20% performance bonuses to employees and public officials who contributed to attracting sponsorship funds.

A police official said, "We tracked accounts and did everything regarding the use of sponsorship funds, but nothing was confirmed to have flowed to the Seongnam mayor (Lee)." He added, "We also conducted multifaceted investigations, including account tracking, on the performance bonuses received by those called associates, but similarly, no evidence was found that the funds flowed to the Seongnam mayor's side." Previously, Seongnam FC did not disclose at all who received performance bonuses and how much, even in response to data requests from the Seongnam City Council and others.

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