2007 election funds to be probed

Lee Sang-deuk, elder brother of President Lee Myung-bak, waits inside a car at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, Wednesday, as he is transferred to a detention center after prosecutors arrested him over a bribery case. (Photo : Yonhap)

Prsident’s elder brother arrested for taking bribes

Prosecutors said Wednesday they are looking into the allegations that Lee Sang-deuk, President Lee Myung-bak’s elder brother, received illegal political funds from businesses to finance his brother’s presidential campaign in 2007.

The elder Lee, a former National Assembly vice speaker, was jailed earlier in the day for taking illegal funds from savings banks after a court issued an arrest warrant for him. This is the first time that a brother of an incumbent president has been put behind bars on corruption charges.

“We are examining how the elder Lee used the illegal funds gained from businesses,” a prosecutor told reporters. “Given his status and the role he played on President Lee’s campaign team, the money might have been used as funding for the presidential race.”

The remarks indicate that the prosecution, in the face of growing public calls to investigate illegal campaign funds raised by parties in 2007, is moving to open a Pandora’s Box, which may affect this year’s presidential election slated for December.

According to the prosecution, the elder Lee received 500 million won from two savings banks _ 300 million won from Solomon and 200 million won from Mirae _ from 2007 to 2011.

The former six-term lawmaker is also suspected of having taken 150 million won from Kolon Group, where he once served as chief executive. The prosecution also found some 700 million won early this year in a bank account that belonged to one of his former secretaries.

Rep. Chung Doo-un of the ruling Saenuri Party, who reportedly worked with the elder Lee to raise campaign funds, is also under investigation on suspicions of taking bribes from Solomon Savings Bank. The lawmaker reportedly introduced the bank’s Chairman Lim Suk to the elder Lee ahead of the 2007 presidential election.

Immediately after the court issued the arrest warrant, the elder Lee, who was waiting at the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office in southern Seoul, was taken to the Seoul Detention Center.

“I’m very sorry,” Lee said, when asked by reporters what he would say to his younger brother.

Dozens of angry citizens hurled eggs at the elder Lee as he entered the court. One of them briefly grabbed Lee by his tie, yelling at him that he should take responsibility for the recent closures of troubled savings banks.

The elder Lee and Chung worked as key campaigners for Lee Myung-bak during the 2007 presidential race. Prosecutors said they are checking whether they received illegal political funds from other firms during the election.

Some opposition lawmakers have alleged that the elder Lee collected hundreds of billions of won from businessmen to finance his brother’s campaign.

Rep. Park Jie-won, the floor leader of the main opposition Democratic United Party (DUP), is also facing a summons over allegations that he also received illegal funds from Lim. <The Korea Times/Na Jeong-ju>

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