The presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae denied Sunday that anyone close to President Roh Moo-hyun has played a part in what critics say is a major scandal involving a gambling machine marketing firm and warned that it would take legal action against malignant accusations.
Announcing the results of their investigation earlier in the day, state prosecutors said that they have arrested the owners of two gambling game machine-related firms -- Woojyun Systec and ZikoPrime -- and booked for investigation several others.
Suspicion has arisen over the role of Roh Ji-won, a nephew of the president who until early July, served as a managing director of Woojyun Systec. He quit just before his company merged with JikoPrime, a gambling machine marketing firm.
"It is not true that Roh Ji-won benefited enormously by playing a role in his company's merger with ZikoPrime," Jun Hae-chul, senior presidential secretary of civil affairs, told reporters.
"We will take all necessary civil and criminal action against distorted reports and reckless political attacks."
"We had warned Woojyun Systec not to use him for business purposes several times, so the company restricted him to handle only international business," Jun said.
The secretary also denied that Myung Kye-nam, a movie actor-cum-producer known as a strong supporter of the president, was involved in the business of distributing gift certificates in connection with the gambling machine business.
However, the main opposition Grand National Party and some media raised suspicion that the president's nephew might have peddled influence in the merger of the two companies. They also alleged that the movie producer might have ties with the distribution of gift certificates, prizes of the gambling machine game called "Sea Story."
"Rumors about Myung have been in wide circulation since late last year. We traced the sources and informers but they all just said 'heard from others.' We couldn't find his connection with a game or gift certificate company," Jun said.
Gift certificates are issued for jackpot winners because game machine owners are banned from handing out money. But the winners usually exchange the certificates for cash outside of the game arcades.
The Board of Audit and Inspection said it will make an on-site inspection of video slot machine games, including "Sea Story," from Monday in a preliminary step toward a full-blown investigation.
"We've monitored them so far, so we need to gather information on the spot before a full-scale audit," a board official said, asking that he remain anonymous.
The probe will focus on whether there was any problem in the government's approval of the games, he said.
Seooul, Aug. 20 (Yonhap News)
Presidential office denies involvement of Roh's nephew in scandal |
