hankyoreh

By Kim Jeong-pil
　　
The Central Investigations Division of the Supreme Public Prosecutor‘s Office requested a preliminary arrest warrant Monday for Kim Jae-hong, 72, a director at the Sebang Academy and cousin by marriage of President Lee Myung-bak.
Kim is being accused of taking around 400 million won from Jeil Mutual Savings Bank chairman Yoo Dong-chun, 71, who allegedly requested that he lobby on behalf of the bank, which had its operations suspended.
Prosecutors summoned Kim for questioning Saturday as to whether he took the money from Yoo, and whether he actually used his influence with financial authorities to smooth over an inspection of Jeil Mutual Savings Bank.
The prosecutors are known to have gathered a substantial amount of evidence to support the charges against Kim through bank account tracking and other investigations based on Yoo’s testimony.
Prosecutors believe there is a strong chance that Yoo gave the money Kim for ordinary “administration” purposes in light of his relationship as cousin of First Lady Kim Yoon-ok. In particular, they are looking into the possibility that Yoo, who interacted regularly with government and political figures, gave the money to Kim to request appointments for senior officials with whom Yoo was close.
　
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