The prosecution has launched an investigation into presidential candidate Moon Jae-in of the Democratic United Party following accusations of lobbying on behalf of a scandal-ridden savings bank.

A group of people who lost money from the scandal involving Busan Savings Bank, which was found last year to have pocketed customers’ savings by making illegal loans worth trillions of won, had registered a complaint with the prosecution accusing Moon of dereliction of duty as presidential chief of staff in 2003. He is alleged to have lobbied on behalf of the bank to avoid a shutdown order by the Financial Supervisory Service.

“In 2003, had appropriate measures such as suspension of business been taken against Busan Savings Bank, there would not have been victims of the savings bank,” the complaint read. “As candidate Moon has himself acknowledged that he made a call to the head of the Financial Supervisory Service, the complaint has been registered in pursuit of truth regarding law firm Busan and the savings bank incident.”

Moon was a founding member of the law firm named after the southern port city. Busan Savings Bank was a major client of the law firm.

The Supreme Prosecutor’s Office announced on Thursday that the case would be pursued by the Central Investigation Department, the most powerful arm in the prosecution service.

The Saenuri Party has also come out with strong allegations that Moon played a part in lobbying on behalf of Busan Savings Bank, which was found last year to have extensively bribed financial regulators over the years to avoid scrutiny and inspection.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Kim Moo-sung, who manages the Saenuri Party’s election campaign, claimed that the Busan law firm had billed Busan Savings Bank for 7 billion won ($6.4 million) from 2004 to 2012 over cases extending the bond expiration of people with poor credit ratings.

The party furthermore characterized close ties between the savings bank and the law firm as the motivating factor behind Moon’s call to the Financial Supervisory Service.

“Serious allegations are emerging that there are several problematic aspects in the close relationship between Busan Savings Bank and candidate Moon of the DUP,” said Lee Han-goo, floor leader of the Saenuri Party, at the same press conference.

The DUP has flatly denied any wrongdoing by Moon on behalf of the savings bank.

“Moon has already been cleared by the prosecution of any charges” related to the savings bank, Park Gwang-on, the DUP spokesman, told reporters.

Moon has also denied the allegations, stating that he was not associated with the law firm during his time as presidential chief of staff.

By Samuel Songhoon Lee (songhoon@heraldcorp.com)