Home of former special prosecutor raided

Park Young-soo is accused of taking a 5 billion won bribe as part of the controversial Daejang-dong development scheme. Park was the special prosecutor that impeached President Park Geun-hye, putting her and her confidant Choi Seo-won in prison.

Former special prosecutor Park Young-soo. Park indicted President Park Geun-hye and confidant Choi Seo-won, more commonly known as Choi Soon-sil, after Park was impeached in 2017. [YONAHP]

Prosecutors raided the home of former special prosecutor Park Young-soo, who is accused of taking a 5 billion won bribe as part of the controversial Daejang-dong development scheme in which Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung is also implicated.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on Thursday not only raided Park’s home but also the office of lawyer Yang Jae-sik, who was on Park’s special prosecutor’s team that investigated President Park Geun-hye and her close confidant Choi Seo-won, more commonly known by her former name Choi Soon-sil.

Prosecutors claim that the former special counsel played a significant role in financing the Daejang-dong development team headed by former journalist Kim Man-bae.

Park reportedly helped Kim by pressuring Bookook Securities from joining the Daejang-dong consortium while helping Daejang-dong's private developers get project finance loans from Woori Bank in 2014.

Park was the bank’s board chairman.

In exchange, Park is accused of receiving 5 billion won from Kim. The lawyer Yang is believed to have played a role in Park’s pressuring of the brokerage firm and the bank loan.

Park also worked as an advisor to Hwacheon Daeyu, Kim’s company, where he was paid 250 million won in total.

The former special prosecutor's daughter also worked as a Hwacheon Daeyu employee for three years and received an apartment in Daejang-dong.

Park’s cousin Lee Gi-seong also turned out to have an exclusive contract to sell some of the Daejang-dong apartments.

Former journalist Kim is also accused of handing 10 billion won to Park’s cousin.

People from the Seoul Central Distrcit Prosecutors' Office carries out boxes of evidence seized from the office of Park Young-soo associate at a lawfirm in Seocho, southern Seoul, on Thursday. Park is accused of taking bribes involving private developers led by former journalist Kim Man-bae in a Daejang-dong development scandal, which DP Chair Lee Jae-myung is also implicated. [YONHAP]

The identities of the seven people that were later dubbed as the “5 billion won club,” including Park, were disclosed through a archival recording made by accountant Chung Young-hak and former journalist Kim in March 2020.

The conversation implicated six people of pocketing 5 billion won, mostly people in the legal profession, including former Supreme Court justice Kwon Soon-il, former People Power Party lawmaker Kwak Sang-do, Prosecutor General Kim Soo-nam, Blue House seinor secretary of civil affairs under President Park, Choi Jae-kyung, and chairman of the economic news publication Money Today, Hong Seon-geun, as well as former special prosecutor Park.

Former PPP lawmaker Kwak was the first to stand trial. However, the court acquitted the former legislators of taking bribes last month.

While acknowledged that the 5 billion won in severance pay and performance bonuses paid to Kwak’s son, who worked at Hwacheon Daeyu, was excessive, Seoul Central District Court said this does not mean that it was a bribe.

Prosecutors immediately appealed.

DP chairman Lee is accused of using his authority as Seongnam mayor to design the Daejang-dong development project so that a massive windfall of 440 billion won would land in the laps of private developers headed by Kim.

However, prosecutors suspect some of the profits generated from the Daejang-dong development fueled Lee’s political campaigns, especially his election as the DP's presidential candidate for the 2022 race.

Park was the special prosecutor that impeached President Park Geun-hye, putting her and her confidant Choi Seo-won in prison.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]