ID :
57238
Fri, 04/24/2009 - 10:16
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/57238
The shortlink copeid
Roh's brother tried to intervene in shakeup of top tax official: prosecution
SEOUL, April 24 (Yonhap) -- Roh Gun-pyeong, an elder brother of former President
Roh Moo-hyun, is suspected of having attempted to intervene in the appointment of
the nation's top tax official during the five-year Roh presidency which ended in
February 2008, prosecutors said Friday.
The elder Roh, known as a farmer, allegedly told prosecution investigators that
he met Roh Moo-hyun at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae years ago to ask him
to appoint a specific figure as head of the National Tax Service (NTS).
The elder Roh's alleged confession was unveiled by prosecutors during a court
trial of a former Roh secretary indicted on charges of accepting 100 million won
(US$75,200) worth of department gift certificates from Park Yeon-cha, the
disgraced chairman of shoemaker Taekwang Industry.
"Prosecutors have secured testimony by Roh Gun-pyeong that he personally met with
Roh Moo-hyun during his presidency to ask that Park's in-law, Kim Jung-bok, then
chief of the Jungbu Regional Tax Office, be promoted to the top NTS post," a
prosecution official told reporters.
Kim, who served as the chief of the Jungbu Regional Tax Office between 2004 and
2005, was instead appointed as minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs in 2007.
The 66-year-old Gun-pyeong was arrested and indicted last December on charges of
receiving 296 million won in return for influencing the buyout of an ailing
securities firm by Nonghyup, a state-run cooperative of farmers, in 2006.
The latest revelation is expected to deal a blow to the embattled former
president Roh, who is now facing prosecution summons to face questioning over
whether he received tens of billions of won in bribes from the Taekwang Industry
chairman during his presidency.
Roh's wife, Kwon Yang-sook, and one of his in-laws have been found to have
accepted at least $6 million and 300 million won from Taekwang Chairman Park
between 2006 and 2008, though prosecutors suspect Roh was the final recipient of
those bribes.
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)
Roh Moo-hyun, is suspected of having attempted to intervene in the appointment of
the nation's top tax official during the five-year Roh presidency which ended in
February 2008, prosecutors said Friday.
The elder Roh, known as a farmer, allegedly told prosecution investigators that
he met Roh Moo-hyun at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae years ago to ask him
to appoint a specific figure as head of the National Tax Service (NTS).
The elder Roh's alleged confession was unveiled by prosecutors during a court
trial of a former Roh secretary indicted on charges of accepting 100 million won
(US$75,200) worth of department gift certificates from Park Yeon-cha, the
disgraced chairman of shoemaker Taekwang Industry.
"Prosecutors have secured testimony by Roh Gun-pyeong that he personally met with
Roh Moo-hyun during his presidency to ask that Park's in-law, Kim Jung-bok, then
chief of the Jungbu Regional Tax Office, be promoted to the top NTS post," a
prosecution official told reporters.
Kim, who served as the chief of the Jungbu Regional Tax Office between 2004 and
2005, was instead appointed as minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs in 2007.
The 66-year-old Gun-pyeong was arrested and indicted last December on charges of
receiving 296 million won in return for influencing the buyout of an ailing
securities firm by Nonghyup, a state-run cooperative of farmers, in 2006.
The latest revelation is expected to deal a blow to the embattled former
president Roh, who is now facing prosecution summons to face questioning over
whether he received tens of billions of won in bribes from the Taekwang Industry
chairman during his presidency.
Roh's wife, Kwon Yang-sook, and one of his in-laws have been found to have
accepted at least $6 million and 300 million won from Taekwang Chairman Park
between 2006 and 2008, though prosecutors suspect Roh was the final recipient of
those bribes.
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)
