A former ruling Saenuri Party official has been put under arrest on suspicion of taking illegal political funds from a deceased businessman during the 2012 presidential election, prosecutors said Friday.

The special prosecution team probing the case said it has put the 54-year-old former official, identified only by his surname Kim, under emergency arrest Thursday night to corroborate a suspected "bribery list" left behind by Sung Wan-jong, who committed suicide in April.

One of the allegations was that Kim received 200 million won($180,000) sometime around the election from Sung, the late chairman of construction firm Keangnam Enterprises Inc.

Kim was the chief co-spokesperson for President Park Geun-hye, Saenuri's presidential candidate at the time.

Prosecutors, however, said they are still investigating the exact time of the alleged bribery exchange.

The memo retrieved from Sung's pocket after he was found dead showed sums of money written next to the names of a number of high-profile politicians, suggesting that they were bribed. The eight politicians in the memo include President Park's former and current chiefs of staff.

The prosecution earlier said it will soon indict former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo and Hong Joon-pyo, governor of South Gyeongsang Province, on charges of violating the law governing illegal political funds.

Sung also suggested in the memo that he had given the illegal political funds to six other people, including Hong Moon-jong, a ruling party lawmaker who had been in a key post in the Park camp, as well as Yoo Jeong-bok and Seo Byung-soo, the current mayors of Incheon and Busan. (Yonhap)