State prosecutors on Monday raided a data security company established by a son of former President Chun Doo-hwan as part of efforts to collect massive unpaid fines levied on him for amassing large ill-gotten money during his presidency in the 1980s.
Chun was ordered by a court in 1997 to return to the state coffers the 220 billion won ($198.2 million) he was found to have illegally accumulated during his term. But he refused to make the payment, saying he was nearly penniless.
He has so far paid only a quarter of the total, with some 167.2 billion won remaining unpaid.
On Monday, a team of investigators and prosecutors of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office raided two offices of Ware Valley in Seoul, and seized computer disks and other relevant documents to see if the firm is linked to the former leader’s secret funds.
“The raid came as the prosecution suspects that part of Chun’s funds were used in setting up the firm or the company helped Chun’s family launder the money,” a prosecution source said.
Chun’s second son, Jae-yong, established the firm back in January 2001 and sold it to his business partner named Ryu Chang-hee in August 2003, who is suspected of playing a key role in managing the slush funds.
The current head of the firm, named Son Sam-soo who took the position in October 2003, has also been suspected of managing Chun’s funds.
Son, who graduated from Seoul’s elite military academy, served as a presidential secretary under the Chun administration and has been one of his close aides. He currently owns 49.53 percent of the company.
During the prosecution probe in 2004 into the young Chun’s tax evasion case, Ryu said Jae-yong invested some 1.7 billion won in Ware Valley after selling bonds inherited from his father.
Currently, Jae-yong’s two sons each hold 7 percent of the data security company.
Upon analyzing the confiscated documents, the prosecution plans to launch a probe into Ryu, Son, and former and current officials of the company, the source added.
There has been a public outcry about a delay in collecting the former president’s unpaid fines as the statute of limitations in Chun’s case is to expire in October.
In May, the prosecution formed a task force and vowed to mobilize all possible means to collect the remaining fine from the former president. Last month, the parliament passed a bill aimed at extending the statute of limitations on forfeiting and imposing fines on public officials’ illegal wealth from three years to 10.
Under the revision, Chun is required to pay the remainder of his fines by October 2020. (Yonhap News)
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