Prosecutors Launch Investigation into Yang Moon-seok, Democratic Party Candidate, over Alleged Illicit Loans

Prosecutors have launched an investigation into Yang Mun-seok, the Democratic Party of Korea candidate for Ansan Gap in Gyeonggi Province, over allegations of illicit loans from Saemaeul Geumgo.

Candidate Yang Moon-seok of the Democratic Party of Korea running for the 22nd National Assembly election in Ansan Gap, Gyeonggi Province. [Image source=Yonhap News]

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According to the legal community on the 5th, the Ansan branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office is investigating a case transferred from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, in which the People Power Party's 'Lee-Jo (Lee Jae-myung·Cho Kuk) Judgment Special Committee' filed a complaint against candidate Yang on the 1st for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud).

In November 2020, Yang's spouse took out a loan of 580 million won from a private lending company and jointly purchased an apartment in Seocho-gu, Seoul, for 3.125 billion won with Yang. At that time, due to loan restrictions on speculative areas, it is presumed that they used a private lending company because financial institution loans were limited.

Five months later, in April 2021, Yang's daughter, who was a university student, borrowed 1.1 billion won in business operating funds from Suseong Saemaeul Geumgo using the apartment as collateral. Subsequently, Yang's daughter transferred 581 million won of the loan to the private lending company to repay the loan, and the remaining 511 million won was deposited into her mother's account.

The Saemaeul Geumgo Central Association and the Financial Supervisory Service stated that illegal and improper acts were found during the loan process. Although loans to individual business owners should be handled on the condition that they are used only for business purposes, Yang's daughter did not use the deposited loan funds for business purposes but instead used them to repay her parents' mortgage loan.

On the 1st, Yang stated, "I will urgently repay the Saemaeul Geumgo loan by selling the apartment," adding, "I will bear any losses that occur."

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