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Ex-president's nephew quizzed over slush fund allegations
By YonhapPublished : Jan. 24, 2018 - 20:03
A nephew of former President Lee Myung-bak appeared for questioning Wednesday over suspected involvement in the alleged creation of Lee‘s slush fund at a local auto parts maker run by his family.
Lee Dong-hyung, vice president of DAS, arrived at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office around 10 a.m. He was officially summoned Tuesday.
The son of Lee Sang-eun, the eldest brother of the former president, is suspected of engaging in the making and running of a 12 billion-won (US$11 million) secret fund, apparently for his uncle, which the prosecution believes has been managed under dozens of borrowed names.
When asked by a reporter who he thinks owns DAS, he said, “It belongs to my father of course, since he holds the controlling stake,” denying the suspicion that his uncle is the real owner of the company.
“I‘ll earnestly answer the questions,” he told reporters.
Lee Dong-hyung is the largest shareholder of IM, a partner firm of DAS. Investigators raided the company last week over the suspicions.
Wednesday’s interrogation comes as prosecutors are closing in on the former president and his family over alleged corruption and irregularities.
Prosecutors have also called in Lee Sang-deuk, a veteran politician and the ex-president‘s second eldest brother, to face questioning on Wednesday over allegedly taking bribes from the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
Lee, 83, asked for the date to be rescheduled, citing health reasons. Prosecutors accepted this and ordered him to appear Friday.
Earlier in the day, Lee was taken to hospital after he briefly lost his consciousness, mainly due to cardiovascular disease, according to a person close to him.
“He is now said to have regained consciousness. He was physically strong, but his health condition deteriorated after spending years in prison,” said the aide.
Prosecutors are also digging into allegations that then-first lady Kim Yoon-ok took US$100,000 from the spy agency and used it personally.
The former president had been dogged by the slush fund allegations in 2009, when he was just elected. The independent counsel in charge of the case at the time cleared him of the suspicions, citing no evidence to back up the allegations.
But rumors have persisted that he controls DAS behind the curtain and that the slush fund exists. Suspicions rekindled late last year following media reports that the ex-president’s son, Si-hyung, has been named to head key overseas DAS units in China.
Company filings show that Lee Dong-hyung has been demoted to the vice president post from chief vice president, raising suspicions that he was deprived of control in the company leadership. (Yonhap)
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