KEY FIGURES OF LAND SCANDAL GRILLED

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Prosecutors on Sunday questioned key figures in a controversial land development project. Kim Man-bae, the largest shareholder of Hwacheondaeyu and attorney Nam Wook were grilled on suspicious profit-sharing associated with the Daejang-dong project. The prosecution is likely to ask for another arrest warrant for Kim this week, but he has raised issues with the investigation procedure.

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Seoul prosecutors again summoned Hwacheondaeyu’s largest shareholder Kim Man-bae on Sunday. It was the third time for him to be summon after a warrant for his arrest was rejected. He was questioned again to supplement the insufficiencies found in the previous warrant review.

[Soundbite] Kim Man-bae(Hwacheondaeyu’s Largest Shareholder) : "I will have a chance to explain everything later. (Did you come up with the plan to deliver KRW 70 bn to Yoo Dong-kyu?) That’s all a lie."

Prosecutors had accused Kim of giving former Seongnam Development Corporation executive Yoo Dong-gyu 500 million won in cash. But the amount was changed to 100 million won in cash and 400 million won in cashier’s checks during the warrant review. The 500 million won was completely omitted from the indictment. Meanwhile, Kim raised issues with the investigative procedure. He claimed that his right to defend himself was violated since he wasn’t able to read all the transcripts made during the fourth round of questioning. The prosecution refuted that the investigation is following procedures. Prosecutors plan to request a warrant for Kim’s arrest as soon as the charges against him have been reinforced. Investigators also called lawyer Nam Wook and former Seongnam Development Corporation president Hwang Moo-seong for questioning on Sunday afternoon. Hwang claimed in an interview that Yoo was in charge of the controversial land development project and that Lee Jae-myung, who was Seongnam mayor at the time, had something to do with Yoo obtaining that authority.

[Soundbite] Hwang Moo-seong(Former SDC President) : "(Have you talked about the claim that you were under outside pressure?) Yes, I have. (How did you tell them that?) That will be announced soon."

Prosecutors reportedly probed Hwang about the early stages of the development project and why he stepped down before his term was over.