PROSECUTORS SUMMON KEY FIGURES OF SCANDAL

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Prosecutors investigating the Seongnam land development scandal have called in for questioning a number of figures including an official of the asset management firm Hwacheondaeyu and former and incumbent staff members of Seongnam Development Corporation. Kim Man-bae, a major shareholder of Hwacheondaeyu is also expected to be summoned soon.

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A team at Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office investigating the Daejong-dong scandal questioned an official of Hwacheondaeyu, surnamed Kim. He is known to have handled accounting at the company. Prosecutors reportedly grilled Kim on how the firm used the profit from dividends and housing sales earned from the Daejangdong project. Former and current officials of Seongnam Development Corporation have also been called in. They include former president of the corporation Hwang Ho-yang who took office in 2015, and a key working-level figure in the development project, surnamed Han. An accountant named Jeong Young-hak who submitted taped recordings implicating lobbying allegations of Hwacheondaeyu officials as well as Yoo Dong-kyu, a former senior official of Seongnam Development Corporation who is under arrest, have been questioned again by the prosecution. Investigators are known to have grilled them on the veracity of the recordings. Based on the findings, Kim Man-bae, a major shareholder of Hwacheondaeyu is expected to be called in soon. In the recorded files, Kim discusses handing bribes to Yoo Dong-kyu. Kim is considered a key figure in the alleged lobbying of politicians and government officials as he was directly involved in recruiting high ranking legal advisers for Hwacheondaeyu. Kim said he has no particular statement to issue and has not heard from prosecutors yet. Another suspicion concerns the fact that Cheonhwadongin No. 1, an affiliate of Hwacheondaeyu which belongs to Kim, owns high-end housing. A six billion won house in Unjung-dong in Seongnam city was purchased in 2019. Lee Han-sung, head of Cheonhwadongin No. 1, will likely be summoned soon to verify such facts. More summons will follow in the widening investigation including an official from Seongnam Development Corporation involved in the selection of preferred bidders in the Daejangdong project.