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March 15, 2008
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| A lawyer affiliated with the United New Democratic Party attempted to bribe a convict on the eve of the December presidential election in return for publicly linking Lee Myung-bak to a massive investment fraud scandal, according to a trial witness yesterday. Kim Kyung-joon, a former business partner of Lee, is on trial. He is accused of stock price manipulation, embezzlement and document forgery. The man, only identified as Shin, 50, was Kim’s cellmate for one year while the two were jailed in Los Angeles. “I was extradited to Korea in November last year before Kim arrived here to face charges,” Shin said. “I was jailed in Daejeon Prison, and a lawyer from the United New Democratic Party [now the United Democratic Party] paid me three visits. He offered me 200 million won [$206,000] in return for keeping my earlier promise to Kim and publicly saying that Lee, then a presidential candidate, was involved in the BBK scandal. The lawyer also promised me I would be paroled and pardoned in addition to the money.” Kim, who operated an investment company with Lee in 2000, fled to the United States in 2001. He was arrested by the FBI in 2004 and extradited to Korea on Nov. 16, 2007. Kim argued that Lee was the actual beneficiary and mastermind of the fraud. The prosecution and an independent counsel both cleared Lee of involvement in the fraud, while indicting Kim. Last month, prosecutors said the National Intelligence Service, during the last months of the Roh Moo-hyun administration, might have been involved in Kim’s return to Korea to discredit Lee. “Kim told me that senior Korean officials, including some from the National Intelligence Service, had arranged a deal to question him without detention once he returned to Korea,” the witness said yesterday. “He told me that I would be given an attorney free of charge and paroled. He promised to open a bar for me in LA.” Kim’s lawyer, Park Chan-jong, yesterday refuted the witness’ testimony, saying his client has no relation with the UNDP lawyer and did not make such a deal with the witness. By Jung Hyo-sik JoongAng Ilbo [myoja@joongang.co.kr] |
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