Prosecutors search house of President Lee's confidant

SEOUL, May 7 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors on Thursday raided the home and office of a
confidant of President Lee Myung-bak over allegations that he may have attempted
to use his influence to deter a tax probe into a private company.

Some 20 investigators from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office searched the residence
of Chun Shin-il, head of Sejoongnamo Tour Co. in Seongbuk-dong, northern Seoul,
as well as his company office in downtown Seoul early Thursday morning before
confiscating boxes of computer hard disks and accounting books.
Chun, an alumni of President Lee's university, is under suspicion of having
colluded with Park Yeon-cha, head of a shoe manufacturer arrested for allegedly
bribing former political heavyweights, including former President Roh Moo-hyun,
in attempting to halt a tax probe against Park's company last year.
Chun and Lee are known as close personal friends with a relationship that goes
back nearly 50 years. Chun reportedly played a key role in Lee's presidential
campaign in 2007.
According to prosecutors, Chun is also suspected of occasionally holding meetings
with Lee Jong-chan, a former presidential aide for civil affairs under President
Lee, together with Kim Jung-bok, former head of the Jungbu Regional Tax Office,
over ways to deter tax investigations into Park's company, Taekwang Industry.
In a related move, prosecutors Wednesday raided the Seoul Regional Tax Office,
which was responsible for a tax probe into Taekwang, to search for evidence of
the alleged collusion and look into allegations of a possible bribery of ranking
tax officials by Park.
The successive raids came as prosecutors were gearing up to dig deeper into the
unfolding scandal centered on Park and possibly unearth allegations against other
former and incumbent high profile officials. Their investigations into Roh and
his family's alleged past dealings with Park were tentatively wrapped up last
week.
odissy@yna.co.kr
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