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| Former President Lee Myung-bak / Yonhap |
By Lee Kyung-min
The prosecution sought an arrest warrant for former President Lee Myung-bak, Monday, as it claimed he was highly likely to destroy evidence given his continued denial of the corruption allegations including bribery in the amount of 11 billion won ($10.5 million).
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office requested the Seoul Central District Court to issue the warrant, the validity of which will be determined after a judge holds a hearing to question Lee and review the prosecution's charges as early as Thursday.
The request came three days after the team leading the investigation conducted an official briefing for Prosecutor General Moon Moo-il, Friday, seeking direction for the ongoing investigation into Lee.
The request was widely expected given the volume of evidence connected to a series of allegations, the gravity of which requires Lee's detention, given that a bribery conviction involving 11 billion won would carry a minimum prison term of 10 years and a maximum of life.
Moon's predecessor Kim Soo-nam approved the questioning of former President Park Geun-hye after giving her seven days notice.
The prosecution is expected to indict Park in a speedy manner to minimize any unintended consequences in the lead-up to the June local elections.
The head of the team will likely hold a press conference on the day of the indictment, a common practice in high-profile cases, which prosecutors fear might fuel politicization of the issue and subsequent polarization of public opinion.
The prosecution is also reluctant to let Lee's indictment overshadow the inter-Korean summit slated for late April, which the Moon administration expects to be a historic event for the two Koreas.
Lee continues to deny most of the charges, saying he had no knowledge of or involvement in the allegations. Everything, he maintains, was managed and carried out by "working-level" officials, a move to claim plausible deniability by clearly distancing himself from culpability. Lee only admitted receiving $100,000 from the National Intelligence Service through an aide.
The prosecution focused on questioning him about allegations involving DAS, an auto parts company ostensibly owned by his elder brother Lee Sang-eun. This substantiates a considerable part of the allegations hinging on proving Lee was the real owner of the firm.
Prosecutors suspect Samsung Group paid $5 million (6 billion won) as a retainer to the U.S. law firm Akin Gump, of which Samsung was a major client, in return for a presidential pardon for group Chairman Lee Kun-hee in 2009, which they say constitutes bribery.
The U.S. firm helped DAS recover 14 billion won in what could have been a failed investment, unlike 5,500 other investors who lost a combined 100 billion won in a stock-rigging scandal in 2001.
Prosecutors believe Lee operated a slush fund worth at least 30 billion won using DAS money, and tried to hand over shares of the firm from his elder brother to his son Lee Si-hyung.
Four earlier investigations conducted both by the prosecution and a special counsel-led team cleared Lee of allegations involving DAS, a conclusion that fanned public distrust in the country's justice system.
The controversy surrounding DAS re-emerged in 2013 when Lee Si-hyung became a senior-executive at the firm only four years after beginning his career there, with help from his father. Lee attempted to further consolidate his grip on the firm by interfering in company management including financial issues.
The prosecution secured evidence including statements from a former DAS CEO who unexpectedly reversed an earlier statement and confessed that Lee Myung-bak was the owner.
Lee's aide who managed his financial assets also said the ex-president owned land in Dogok-dong, southern Seoul, the sales proceeds of which were funneled into DAS, further corroborating the allegations, according to prosecutors.
Former first lady Kim Yoon-ok, prosecutors said, spent 400 million won using a DAS corporate card between the mid-1990s and late 2007, shortly before Lee won the presidency, evidence they believe substantiates Lee was the owner of DAS. Kim used the card in local department stores and overseas duty free shops.
