The prosecution said Wednesday it had formed a special team tasked with investigating allegations that an incumbent prosecutor received kickbacks from a businessman in exchange for influence peddling in court proceedings.

According to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, the special inspection team -- consisting of four prosecutors and 10 investigators -- will look into bribery allegations involving senior prosecutor Kim Hyung-joon.

“In regard to the case, the special inspection team will thoroughly conduct a probe and punish those who committed wrongdoings accordingly,” the prosecution’s audit department said. 

The launch of the inspection team comes after the 45-year-old prosecutor was accused of accepting bribes worth 15 million won ($13,800) from a businessman, surnamed Kim, in return for pulling strings for him to have his alleged embezzlement and fraud cases dismissed.

The two attended the same middle and high schools.

The accusations came as the businessman revealed to local media that he had served as a “financial sponsor” for the prosecutor by providing him with money and meals on a regular basis.

In screen-captured text messages exchanged between the two released by a local media outlet, the prosecutor asked for money from the businessman on multiple occasions.

In the wake of a widening probe, the prosecutor allegedly advised the businessman to remove evidence of their dubious ties by checking his residence and office and changing his cellphone, according to the messages.

The accused prosecutor denied the allegations, saying that he borrowed the money and paid it back in about a month. He also reportedly said that the financial transactions were not related to the legal case.

The businessman reportedly claimed that other prosecutors are also involved in the corruption case after he was arrested Monday. He said he would reveal names of the prosecutors during the questioning.

The case has already spilled over to the prosecution, which faces allegations that its local office had attempted to cover up the incumbent prosecutor’s alleged wrongdoing by belatedly launching an inspection and asking the police to hand over the case. It is also suspected of dismissing the police’s earlier applications for search warrants into the businessman’s residence.

Earlier in the day, the Justice Ministry suspended the prosecutor from his post for two months in accordance with the prosecution’s request.

This is the latest in a series of corruption scandals involving judges, prosecutors and lawyers, placing the integrity of the nation’s justice system in question.

According to government data obtained by Rep. Hong Il-pyo of the ruling Saenuri Party, 46 prosecutors and 10 judges were punished for wrongdoings from 2011 to 2015. Such misdeeds included drunk driving, violations of rules, failure to maintain dignity and bribery.

Among them, 13 prosecutors and judges were punished for receiving kickbacks. Only two faced dismissal, the heaviest punishment.

On Friday, the prosecution arrested an incumbent senior judge, identified by his surname Kim, on suspicion of accepting kickbacks from ex-Nature Republic CEO Jung Woon-ho. Jung allegedly asked the judge to hand down a heavy sentence to cosmetics-makers who distributed fake Nature Republic products.

In June, prosecutor-turned-lawyer Hong Man-pyo was arrested over suspicions that he evaded taxes and used his connections in the judiciary to seek a lenient ruling for his client Jung.

Ex-senior prosecutor Jin Kyung-joon was indicted in late July on charges of benefiting from shady stock transactions and accepting bribes worth 950 million won from Kim Jung-ju, the founder of the nation’s largest game-maker Nexon


By Ock Hyun- ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)