Eleven of them had ties to Kweon, and Yeom knew about 39 others, prosecutors said.

Kweon has also been charged with bribery for allegedly helping Kangwon Land easily pass a government audit in return.

Prosecutors sought to arrest them in May, but the parliament rejected their request. South Korean lawmakers cannot be arrested or detained while the parliament is in session without parliamentary consent unless they are caught red-handed.

Kweon voluntarily presented himself early this month for a court arraignment on his arrest. The court turned it down citing disputable charges.

The high-profile scandal has spawned the launch of an independent prosecution inquiry after a prosecutor who was probing the case revealed that it had already been compromised by Kweon, chairman of the parliament's judiciary committee and by ranking prosecutors.

The independent probe team has been at odds with sitting Prosecutor-General Moon Moo-il and has publicly accused him of blocking their investigation into the top prosecutors implicated in the case. (Yonhap)