Justice minister pledges fair probe for fund cases

Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae urged state prosecutors to investigate, thoroughly and in accordance with law and principle, a sprawling financial fraud scandal allegedly involving politicians and incumbent prosecutors as opposition parties called for her immediate removal from the office for intervening in the probe.

“The law should be applied fairly according to the same standards without sanctuary and regardless of the status (of suspects). This rule should be implemented evenly to former and current justice ministers, politicians, prosecutor-generals and their families, as well as other prosecutors,” Choo said via her Facebook post.

Choo said the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office and the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office will expand their teams to step up their effort to get to the bottom of the case involving hedge fund firm Lime Asset Management.

The justice minister directed the two offices on Monday not to take orders from Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl on the Lime case, but merely to report the results of the investigation to him. Yoon‘s Supreme Prosecutors Office said it accepted the order.

The financial scandal, in which Lime is alleged to have covered up massive investment losses to its investors, has ensnared political bigwigs from both the ruling and opposition parties, as well as presidential aides and state prosecutors, who are suspected of having taken bribes from the company.

A statement written by Kim Bong-hyun, former chairman of Star Mobility, who is believed to be the main financial backer of Lime, was a trigger for Choo’s decision to water down Yoon’s authority.

The key suspect said that a prosecutor-turned-lawyer advised him to frame Kang Gi-jung, former senior secretary to President Moon Jae-in, for taking bribes to empower the prosecutor general, who has been at odds with the Moon administration.

Opposition parties mounted attacks on the justice minister, questioning political motive behind the justice minister’s intervention in the case.

Rep. Joo Ho-young, floor leader of the main opposition People Power Party, urged President Moon to replace the minister, reiterating his call for an independent counsel to look into the Lime fund scandal as well as a seperate but similar fund scam of Optimus Asset Management.

“No one would believe or accept the conclusion of the case made by pro-government, pro-Choo prosecutors,” Joo said during a meeting with party officials at the National Assembly on Tuesday. “President Moon should not neglect Choo. She should be immediately replaced.”

Defending Choo‘s decision, Cheong Wa Dae said the directive order was inevitable as a thorough investigation has to be conducted in a prompt and unbiased manner.

The ruling party rejected the opposition’s demand to launch an independent counsel team, saying “a fair and neutral probe” by prosecutors will be sufficient to verify the truth.

This is the second time Choo has intervened to restrict Yoon’s authority to oversee certain cases, reflecting her mistrust of the prosecutor general.

The justice minister has the authority under the Prosecutors’ Office Act to direct or suspend specific investigations undertaken by prosecutors, but such orders have been issued only three times in the country’s history and only by two justice ministers, including Choo. This is because most justice ministers tend to avoid causing friction between the two judicial organizations and protect the autonomy of prosecution.

Before giving the order to sideline Yoon, the ministry expressed its dissatisfaction with the progress that the top prosecutor had made in the investigation.

“We confirmed that the investigation was not properly conducted despite the fact that Kim testified allegations of an opposition party politician and prosecutors are engaged in this case along with allegations involving politicians from the liberal bloc,” the ministry said Sunday.

The People Power Party’s special committee on the two financial fraud scandals questioned the reliability of Kim’s statement, calling it a “unilateral disclosure by a swindler and full of fiction.”

“Just relying on a letter, the minister is asserting that the investigation about prosecutors and the opposition party is not making progress because of Yoon,” the committee’s leader, Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, told reporters.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)