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Office of former top court justice raided as part of corruption probe

Published: 21 Mar. 2024, 18:47

Prosecutors raid the office of former Supreme Court Justice Kwon Soon-il in Seocho District, southern Seoul,as part of an investigation in connection with the Daejang-dong land development scandal on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Prosecutors on Thursday raided the office of former Supreme Court Justice Kwon Soon-il as part of an investigation into a high-profile property development scandal.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office sent investigators to Kwon's office to seize evidence, officials said.

The raid came as part of the prosecution's corruption investigation into allegations that several former high-ranking government officials were illegally promised 5 billion won ($3.8 million) each by management firm Hwacheon Daeyu.

Hwacheon Daeyu is at the center of a high-profile development scandal involving a lucrative apartment development project in the Daejang-dong district of Seongnam, launched while Democratic Party Chair Lee Jae-myung was the city's mayor.

Kwon, who served as a judge at the Supreme Court from 2014-20, has been accused of serving as an adviser for Hwacheon Daeyu without officially registering as a lawyer.

Suspicions against him also include that he used his casting vote in favor of Lee Jae-myung, then Gyeonggi mayor, in the top court's 2020 acquittal of him in connection with official election law violation charges, in return for alleged financial rewards.

Yonhap