ID :
165802
Fri, 03/04/2011 - 10:33
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/165802
The shortlink copeid
Former tax chief leaves hospital amid widening probe
(ATTN: REVISES lead; UPDATES Han's condition in 3rd para; ADDS photo)
SEOUL, March 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's former tax chief has been discharged from the hospital he admitted himself to earlier this week, hospital officials said Friday, amid the prosecution's widening investigation into his alleged bribery and influence peddling.
Earlier this week, prosecutors summoned Han San-ryule, who led the National Tax Service (NTS) from November 2007 to January 2009, to question him over the allegations before raiding his house and an art gallery in Seoul to confiscate paintings in connection with the lobbying allegations. Han returned to the country over the weekend nearly two years after he left. At the time of his departure, he was surrounded by the bribery allegations.
After undergoing a grueling all-night interrogation by prosecutors on Monday, Han on Thursday admitted himself into Seoul's Severance Hospital for a checkup and was discharged Friday afternoon, hospital officials said, noting his health was in stable condition.
The 58-year-old Han stepped down from his post when he came under suspicion of giving a high-priced painting to the wife of his predecessor, Jeon Goon-pyo, in early 2007 to get a promotion and of paying golf fees for influential local politicians in late 2008 in an apparent bid for his re-election.
The graft allegation surfaced after Jeon's wife put the painting that she claimed to have received from Han on auction. The painting by the late abstract artist Choi Wook-kyung was estimated to be worth about 30 million won (US$26,500) at the time. Han denied the allegations.
After completing 14 hours of questioning on Monday, the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office said it had obtained the abstract painting titled "Hakdong Village," without elaborating when and how prosecutors acquired the piece.
The former tax chief was also accused of abusing his authority in August 2008 by ordering a Seoul tax office to investigate Taekwang Industry, a Busan-based shoemaking company, whose president, Park Yeon-cha, later ended up at the center of a high-profile bribery scandal involving influential figures from the Roh Moo-hyun administration as well as Roh's family.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
SEOUL, March 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's former tax chief has been discharged from the hospital he admitted himself to earlier this week, hospital officials said Friday, amid the prosecution's widening investigation into his alleged bribery and influence peddling.
Earlier this week, prosecutors summoned Han San-ryule, who led the National Tax Service (NTS) from November 2007 to January 2009, to question him over the allegations before raiding his house and an art gallery in Seoul to confiscate paintings in connection with the lobbying allegations. Han returned to the country over the weekend nearly two years after he left. At the time of his departure, he was surrounded by the bribery allegations.
After undergoing a grueling all-night interrogation by prosecutors on Monday, Han on Thursday admitted himself into Seoul's Severance Hospital for a checkup and was discharged Friday afternoon, hospital officials said, noting his health was in stable condition.
The 58-year-old Han stepped down from his post when he came under suspicion of giving a high-priced painting to the wife of his predecessor, Jeon Goon-pyo, in early 2007 to get a promotion and of paying golf fees for influential local politicians in late 2008 in an apparent bid for his re-election.
The graft allegation surfaced after Jeon's wife put the painting that she claimed to have received from Han on auction. The painting by the late abstract artist Choi Wook-kyung was estimated to be worth about 30 million won (US$26,500) at the time. Han denied the allegations.
After completing 14 hours of questioning on Monday, the Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office said it had obtained the abstract painting titled "Hakdong Village," without elaborating when and how prosecutors acquired the piece.
The former tax chief was also accused of abusing his authority in August 2008 by ordering a Seoul tax office to investigate Taekwang Industry, a Busan-based shoemaking company, whose president, Park Yeon-cha, later ended up at the center of a high-profile bribery scandal involving influential figures from the Roh Moo-hyun administration as well as Roh's family.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
