South Korean prosecutors said Friday they have arrested the vice chief of the country's top financial watchdog on charges of committing irregularities in connection with a business takeover a few years ago.
Kim Jung-hoe, vice governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), is suspected of accepting tens of millions of won in kickbacks from a former department store owner in return for peddling influence on the businessman's failed bid to take over a mutual savings bank in 2001, a Seoul prosecution official said.
Kim Heung-ju, the former head of Grace Department Store in Seoul, has been under investigation since November last year on charges of fraud, embezzling funds from company coffers and issuing bad checks. His department store went bankrupt three years ago.
He is also suspected of having bribed FSS officials, including the vice head, to seek their influence on his unsuccessful attempt to acquire Gold Mutual Savings Bank (GMSB) in 2001.
At that time, Kim Jung-hoe was an FSS director in charge of overseeing non-bank financial institutions, and is suspected of introducing the department store owner to ranking officials at the mutual savings bank to help his takeover.
The vice FSS head is reported to be strongly denying the charge.
On the same day, the prosecution also arrested Shin Sang-shik, a Hyundai Card executive, on charges of taking 140 million won (US$150,000) in bribes from the businessman in February 2001. Shin was the head of a local FSS branch at the time.
Seoul, Jan. 5 (Yonhap)
Vice head of S. Korea's financial watchdog arrested |
