Investigation Leaks

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The prosecution has sought arrest warrants for two prosecutors accused of leaking internal information to a lawyer who was under investigation for stock price manipulation. Amid speculation that a high-ranking prosecution official was involved in the case, here’s what we know so far.

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Two incumbent prosecutors were taken into police custody. Arrest warrants for them are being sought. They are accused of leaking investigation information to a lawyer of a suspect. A prosecutor surnamed "Chu" was found to have handed over investigation details when he was assigned with a case about a lawyer identified only as "Choi" in 2014. The other prosecutor surnamed "Choi" was revealed to have leaked related materials when an internal investigation was under way into lawyer Choi's alleged stock price manipulation. At the time, the two prosecutors were working at the western and southern district offices in Seoul. Accusations against them were confirmed, when two investigators were arrested and indicted on the same charges in December last year. The inspection department at the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office believe that lawyer Choi lobbied to thwart an investigation into his allegations and utilized the investigation records in the process. The lawyer has been standing trial on charges of diverting 14.2 billion won, which must have been paid to residents near an air force airfield as a compensation for their suffering from noise. He was recently arrested on new charges of a grand scale tax evasion. It appears the probe into the lawyer's lobbying is expanding. The results of the investigation will likely cause greater repercussions, as two other prosecutors were questioned and there are rumors of a high-ranking prosecutorial official's involvement.