Prosecutors Weigh Refiling Arrest Warrant for Park Young-soo... Summon Close Aides for Supplementary Investigation

After the arrest warrant for former special prosecutor Park Young-soo, who is suspected of involvement in the so-called 'Daejang-dong 5 Billion Club' scandal, was dismissed, the prosecution summoned and investigated Park's close associates.

Former special prosecutor Park Young-soo, who is suspected of receiving bribes in exchange for helping private developers in Daejang-dong, known as the so-called '5 Billion Club' scandal, was released from the Seoul Detention Center in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, after his arrest warrant was dismissed on the night of the 29th of last month.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the legal community on the 10th, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Eom Hee-joon) summoned lawyer Heo Jin-young (49, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 38) on the 7th as a witness for questioning.

Lawyer Heo is considered a close aide to former special prosecutor Park and former special prosecutor assistant Yang Jae-sik. He worked together with Park and Yang at the law firm Gangnam from 2014 to 2015, when they discussed the participation of the 'Daejang-dong team' and Woori Bank in the Daejang-dong project. In 2016, he joined the special investigation team for the state affairs manipulation case as a special investigator and later opened an office in Seocho-dong, Seoul with former assistant Yang. He also served as Park's legal representative when the 5 Billion Club allegations were first raised in 2021.

The prosecution is known to have questioned lawyer Heo about how the demands of private contractors were conveyed to former special prosecutor Park through former assistant Yang, and whether the 1.1 billion KRW loan taken by Park's daughter from Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management was a form of compensation.

Later that morning, Hwacheon Daeyu director Park was also summoned as a witness and questioned about the nature of the approximately 200 million KRW in advisory fees and loans Hwacheon Daeyu paid to former special prosecutor Park.

Within the legal community, it is anticipated that these summons and investigations will lead to a reapplication for arrest warrants against former special prosecutor Park and former assistant Yang. Their arrest warrants were dismissed once on the 29th of last month. The court stated as reasons for dismissal, "There is room for factual and legal dispute regarding the relevance of the suspect's duties, the actual receipt of money or goods, and the establishment of promises to provide money or goods."

In response, a prosecution official said, "We requested the warrants because we secured and confirmed numerous objective evidences from the suspects' solicitations and promises of money or goods, to the realization of solicitations and actual receipt of money or goods," adding, "The dismissal of the warrants is difficult to accept."

They also claimed, "The investigation team thoroughly investigated not only the substance of the 5 Billion Club but also additional serious allegations such as the promise of 20 billion KRW and the receipt of money or goods during the Bar Association president election process," and stated, "We will carefully review the court's reasons for dismissal and consider whether to reapply."

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