Prosecution expands probe on DP leader's wife

[Anchor]

The investigation by the prosecution, which began with allegations that personal expenses were paid with a corporate card, has expanded to include the use of official vehicles, leading to embezzlement charges amounting to hundreds of millions of won.

The prosecution presented the guilty verdict against Kim Hye-kyung last week as a key piece of evidence.

Next, we have reporter Woo Han-sol.

[Report]

The investigation into the misuse of corporate cards in Gyeonggi Province began with the revelations of former provincial government employee Cho Myeong-hyun.

[Cho Myeong-hyun/Dec. 2023: "Since he approved and provided feedback, the mastermind behind all of this is Lee Jae-myung."]

However, while the police referred Kim Hye-kyung and Baek to the prosecution, they stated that they could not find evidence of Lee's involvement and decided not to prosecute him.

After receiving a request for investigation from the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, the prosecution began a re-investigation by obtaining materials from the police, looking into not only the misuse of corporate cards but also the private use of official vehicles and overall budget misuse.

It is reported that they confirmed multiple instances of falsified logs for official vehicle use and forged expenditure documents based on the analysis of seized items from the Gyeonggi Provincial Office, interviews with provincial employees, and corporate card transaction receipts.

Through this, the amount of misuse of the corporate card was recalculated from the 2 million won identified by the police to over 8 million won, and the total amount misused by Lee Jae-myung was increased to over 160 million won.

The prosecution particularly cited last week's first trial verdict against Kim as a basis for prosecution.

The court acknowledged that Baek had personally accompanied Kim and that corporate cards were used for personal purposes.

The prosecution believes that it is unlikely that Lee, who is both Baek's superior and Kim's spouse, was unaware of this situation.

The prosecution seems to be aware of the controversy over excessive investigation, as the police conducted searches at over 100 locations, including restaurants, to verify corporate card usage, while the prosecution revealed that their searches did not exceed 10 locations, including the Gyeonggi Provincial Office.

This is KBS News, Woo Han-sol.