Lee Myung-bak charged with corruption
SEOUL - Prosecutors of the Republic of Korea on Monday indicted former president Lee Myung-bak on corruption charges including bribery, embezzlement and tax evasion.
Lee, who ended his single, five-year presidency in early 2013, was taken into custody in March after being questioned over a series of corruption charges, all of which he has denied. He has denounced the investigation as a "political revenge".
If convicted of all the allegations, the septuagenarian could be jailed for life, Yonhap news agency reported.
His trial is expected to begin next month.
The businessman-turned-politician became the fourth ROK president to be indicted by prosecutors. Former president Park Geun-hye, Lee's successor, was sentenced to 24 years in prison for corruption last week.
Park was the first ROK leader to be impeached before being arrested about a year ago.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said in a statement that it has confirmed that Lee is the real owner of DAS, a local auto parts manufacturer, through investigations for the past three months.
Through DAS, which Lee allegedly illegally owned under fake names, the former leader embezzled about 34.9 billion won ($32.7 million) and evaded 3.1 billion won in corporate tax by creating a slush fund through accounting fraud and using business credit cards for personal purposes.
While he was in office for five years to early 2013, Lee instructed senior government officials to actively support DAS's legal action in the United States.
Lee allegedly took about $5.9 million in bribes from Samsung Group, the country's biggest family-controlled conglomerate, by making Samsung pay the US retaining fee on DAS' behalf. Both Samsung and Lee have denied the allegations as groundless.
He is also believed to have received millions of dollars in kickbacks from businessmen and politicians in exchange for political and business favors. The kickback included a special operation fund for the National Intelligence Service, the spy agency of the country.
Lee is also accused of illegally leaking and concealing 3,402 classified presidential documents at a building in Seoul, which is believed to be owned by the former president. The leaked documents included major evidence relevant to Lee's illegalities.
The prosecution office said it had charged Lee with bribery, tax evasion, embezzlement and abuse of power as well as violations of laws on the presidential archives management and the political fund.
Xinhua - Afp
(China Daily 04/10/2018 page11)
