Ssangbangwool’s suspicion of ‘remittance to North Korea’ Will the charge of bribery be applied… Prosecutors focus on investigating ‘compensation’

The prosecution, which brought former Ssangbangwool Group chairman Kim Seong-tae to trial for violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act on charges of handing over 8 million dollars to North Korea, has been found to be reviewing additional bribery charges.

According to the legal community on the 6th, Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office 6th Criminal Division (Chief Prosecutor Kim Yong-nam) arrested and indicted former Chairman Kim on charges of violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, embezzlement and breach of trust, and the Capital Markets Act on the 3rd.

Regarding the suspicion of remittance to North Korea, the prosecution first applied only the charges of violating the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act, excluding the violation of the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act. It has been confirmed that the large amount of money was transferred to North Korea, but there is still an additional investigation into the purpose.

Prosecutors secured a statement from former Chairman Kim that the $8 million delivered to the North three times in 2019 was the cost of Gyeonggi-do’s smart farm project ($5 million) and the cost of visiting North Korea by Lee Jae-myeong, then governor of Gyeonggi-do, and Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myeong ($3 million). state.

In this regard, former chairman Kim is known to have submitted to the prosecution receipts written by North Korean Song Myeong-chol and others after receiving money.

In addition, the prosecution is said to have recently secured a statement from former chairman Kim to the effect that “Lee Hwa-yeong, former vice-governor of Gyeonggi-do, urged an economic cooperation agreement with North Korea, saying ‘don’t worry’.”

At the time, in 2019, Ssangbangwool signed an agreement with the North Korean Federation for National Economic Cooperation to guarantee ▲resort construction project in Wonsan-Karma area ▲underground resource development project such as rare earth elements to Ssangbangwool affiliates, and promised to pay 100 million dollars for the project. did.

Based on these statements, the prosecution is expected to look into whether a third-party bribery charge or direct bribery charges for Gyeonggi-do or CEO Lee can be applied to the money sent by former chairman Kim to North Korea in future investigations.

To this end, it seems that they will focus on finding out whether Ssangbangwool received any payment or promise from Gyeonggi-do and whether Gyeonggi-do was actually involved in remittances to North Korea.

Prosecutors previously secured statements from those involved that Ssangbangbangul attempted to participate in the project to build a hotel and solar power facility when former vice-governor Lee was the representative of KINTEX in Goyang, as well as to build an eco-energy park with a large-scale solar power facility in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. did. However, these projects were not actually carried out.

Prosecutors are first summoning and investigating the suspects, including vice chairman Bangbang Mo, but former vice-governor Lee has not yet responded to the summons from the prosecution and denies all the allegations.

He sent a letter to his family and lawyer on the 2nd, saying, “The frame is being made as if Ssangbang-ul’s remittance to North Korea was done for Gyeonggi-do and Lee Jae-myeong, which is ‘completely fictional’.” I was completely unaware of this, and in particular, the remittance to North Korea was carried out in secret.”

In addition, he denies the suspicion that he connected the phone call between CEO Lee and former chairman Kim, saying, “It is not true at all” through his lawyer.

Representative Lee also dismisses the statements related to former chairman Kim as “the prosecution’s fiction.”

He said at the Supreme Council meeting that day, January 17, 2019, which is pointed out as the date that former Vice-Governor Lee called him to former Chairman Kim, was when he was undergoing a trial related to ‘exaggerated remarks on development achievements in Daejang-dong’. ”he asked back.

[수원=뉴시스]