Prosecutors ask MB’s brother in for questioning

Prosecutors said Tuesday they asked an elder brother of former President Lee Myung-bak to appear as a suspect for questioning this week over allegations that he received money from the state spy agency.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said it requested Lee Sang-deuk, a former six-term lawmaker, to appear at 10 a.m. on Wednesday for an interrogation.

Lee, 83, is suspected of accepting hundreds of millions of won from the National Intelligence Service (NIS) in early 2011, when he was a legislator belonging to the ruling conservative Saenuri Party.

The notice for summons comes a day after prosecutors raided the elder Lee’s residence and office in Seoul to confiscate evidence. Prosecutors said earlier that they obtained testimonies from other suspects admitting to the delivery of the illicit money from NIS coffers to Lee.

Prosecutors believe that Lee was involved in efforts to have one of his former subordinates from a retail company where he had served as CEO appointed in 2008 to the NIS post in charge of the budget, even though he had no prior experience in the intelligence field.

Prosecutors said they are not excluding the possibility that Lee used the NIS fund for his political activities.

The investigation has been closing in on former President Lee, as a number of his close aides have been questioned for their involvement in the alleged delivery of illegal funds to the presidential office during his term.

Yonhap