Prosecutors: "Almost Confirmed That Money Envelope Warrant Details Are Accurate... Verifying Each Recipient One by One"

The prosecution investigating the 2021 Democratic Party leadership election cash envelope allegations announced on the 27th that "the facts regarding the charges stated in the search and seizure warrant have been largely confirmed."

Prosecutors [Image source=Yonhap News]

A representative from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which is handling the case, said on the same day, "The facts regarding the process of raising funds, the method of distribution, and the recipients have been largely identified."

Earlier, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-cheol) of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office stated in the search and seizure warrant that from March to May 2021, under the leadership of Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Kwan-seok and former Korea Water Resources Corporation Standing Auditor Kang Rae-gu, a total of 94 million won was distributed to members of the National Assembly and others to elect former party leader Song Young-gil at the leadership election.

The prosecution plans to reapply for an arrest warrant for former auditor Kang, who was involved in the entire cash distribution process, in the near future. Kang was also summoned for questioning on the same day to supplement the charges, following the investigation on the 25th.

Contrary to the court's decision to dismiss the arrest warrant for former auditor Kang, the prosecution found evidence of collusion among accomplices during the search and seizure process, and objective evidence destruction such as deleting data from mobile phones. Therefore, they believe Kang should be detained to prevent further attempts to destroy evidence.

Once the investigation into the group of donors is completed, the prosecution plans to expand the investigation to the group of recipients. The official stated, "There has been meaningful progress in the investigation through questioning related parties. We are focusing on the distribution process as it is the main point of the charges, and we are verifying the recipients of the funds one by one during this process."

It is expected to take some time before the investigation reaches former party leader Song Young-gil, who has been identified as the biggest beneficiary of the cash distribution. Song, who appointed Senior Attorney Sun Jong-moon of the law firm Gwangya, has expressed his intention to appear before the prosecution soon, but the prosecution stated that it is not yet at the stage of summoning Song for questioning and advised him to submit his position in writing.

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