Ruling party member under probe over scandal
Prosecutors have been investigating a ruling party lawmaker over his alleged involvement in the LCT corruption scandal in Busan.
Kyunghyang Shinmun, a local daily, reported Friday that the prosecution has been tracking the bank accounts of Rep. Lee Jin-bok as well as his family and cronies over the allegations that he received kickbacks from a businessman, Lee Young-bok, to help him move through the LCT project, a complex of skyscrapers in the city.
Lee Jin-bok is the first lawmaker found to be investigated over the scandal, but not the first high-profile official.
Hyun Ki-hwan, who served as senior presidential secretary between July 2015 and this June, has already been arrested after allegedly receiving bribes from the Cheongan Construction CEO.
Lee Jin-bok is known to be close friends with Lee Young-bok. The lawmaker said they played golf together many times.
After the case came under media spotlight last month, prosecutors raided 14 golf courses across Busan to secure the lists of people who played golf with Lee Young-bok. It is said the prosecution has secured a list of dozens of politicians and high-ranking government officials suspected of receiving bribes from him from the mid-2000s until recently.
Lee Young-bok has been indicted on charges of siphoning off 70.5 billion won ($60 million) from the company, and how he has used these funds is still unclear. The prosecution suspects that some of it, at least, was used to curry favor with the powerful.