Prosecution May Summon Chun Do-hwan for Questioning


By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
Former President Chun Doo-hwan gave 7.35 billion won in secret funds to his second son after stashing away hundreds of billions of won while in office, the prosecution said on Tuesday, hinting that a full investigation will soon be launched on Chun.

Prosecutors said the money originating from Chun is part of 16.7 billion won, which was deposited in the bank accounts of Chun Jae-yong, the second son of the ex-dictator and his girlfriend’s mother.

``We have solid evidence that Jae-yong’s money is part of leftover political funds stashed away by ex-President Chun,’’ said Moon Hyo-nam, senior prosecutor at the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office. Chun took office in a coup following the assassination of former President Park Chung-hee in 1979.

He said the prosecution is considering summoning Chun for questioning about the slush funds. Investigators did not rule out the possibility that much of the remaining 9.35 billion won might also be part of Chun’s secret funds.

However, his son, Jae-yong, has repeatedly claimed the money in his accounts was from Lee Kyu-dong, his grandfather on his mother’s side. Prosecutors dismissed the claims.

The prosecutors’ office on Tuesday arrested Jae-yong on charges of evading 7.4 billion won in gift taxes in the process of the money transfer, an initial step toward expanding the probe into the fund scandal.

The prosecution proved in 1995 that Chun stashed away 220.5 billion won in slush funds from conglomerates during his seven year term in the 1980s. It suspected that 160 billion won of the funds was deposited in several hundred bank accounts under alias names or invested in bonds carrying no names of owners.

Jae-yong told reporters nothing when he arrived on Tuesday at the prosecutors’ office for questioning for the third time in two weeks.

Now managing a stock and business consulting firm in Seoul, he has been in the spotlight since he was reported to have purchased a multimillion-dollar building in Atlanta, Georgia, allegedly with secret funds given to him by his father.

The former president was convicted of bribery and treason along with his successor, Roh Tae-woo, in 1997. The court then ordered Chun to pay 220 billion won in fines, but he has only paid 31 billion won to date, saying he has only 290,000 won.

The prosecution plans to confiscate the 7.35 billion won from Jae-yong as part of an effort to collect the fines imposed on his father.

The prosecution recently auctioned off some of his personal belongings, including his two pet dogs, to retrieve some of the fines he has refused to pay.

jj@koreatimes.co.kr