Included in the decision to ‘not prosecute the election law’
Prosecutors found on the 15th that the prosecution did not prosecute the Public Official Election Act case in relation to the alleged payment of attorneys’ fees by Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea.
The Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office, which is investigating the allegation of payment of attorney’s fees, said in a decision not to indict Lee on the charge of spreading false facts, “In about two years, about 250 million won in attorney fees that Lee paid by appointing 10 large law firms, including a large law firm, is a typical lawyer. It is an exceptionally small amount in light of the remuneration, etc.,” he said.
CEO Lee is suspected of having SsangBul Group pay convertible bonds, etc., for attorneys’ fees in the case of violation of the Public Official Election Act indicted in 2018. During the last presidential election, CEO Lee explained that he had only spent 300 million won on such charges as attorneys’ fees, but a civic group accused him of distributing false information under the Public Official Election Act, stating that he had given him 2 billion won in cash and stocks.
Regarding whether convertible bonds issued by Ssangbangbang Group and its affiliates were paid for with CEO Lee’s attorney’s fees, the prosecution said, “Confirmation of suspected embezzlement, breach of trust, and money laundering such as expedient issuance and distribution of convertible bonds (through seizure and search and statements of persons involved) “It is difficult to rule out the possibility that the profits were paid in advance for attorney’s fees,” he said.
Prosecutors decided not to prosecute the spread of false information on the 8th due to insufficient evidence because the statute of limitations of the Public Official Election Act was short of six months, making it difficult to reveal the substantive truth. .
However, judging from the contents of the decision to not prosecute, the prosecution puts more weight on the possibility that there was an actual illegal act in relation to the allegation of payment of attorneys’ fees, which is the main subject of the case.
The Suwon District Prosecutor’s 6th Criminal Division and the Public Investigation Department are working together to investigate the allegation of paying attorneys’ fees. As the prosecution seems to have grasped the facts of the case to some extent, it is expected that a subpoena investigation of Lee will be inevitable in the future.
Reporter Jaehee Han