The police have completed their investigation into the "alleged preferential treatment of the Yangpyeong Gongheung District" related to President Yoon Seok-yeol's in-laws, and have decided to send President Yun's brother-in-law, Kim Mo, and others to the prosecutor's office.
The president's mother-in-law, Choi Eun-soon, who founded ESI&D in the case, and First Lady Kim Kun-hee, who once served as an in-house director of the company, decided not to send the company, believing that there was no involvement in the business.
The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi South Police Agency announced today (5th) that it plans to send five people, including Kim and other ESI&D officials, to the prosecutor's office on charges of falsifying and exercising private documents, and three people, including Yangpyeong County official A, on charges of making and exercising false official documents.
Mr. Kim is the substantial owner of ESI&D, a business demonstration agency in Yangpyeong's Gongheung District, and is accused of inserting forged data into supporting documents related to construction costs with the intention of reducing the development levy imposed by Yangpyeong County in 3 along with company officials.
The development levy refers to the amount of money paid to the local government for a portion of the profits from development.
From 12 to 2016, ESI&D reportedly developed a 2011-unit apartment development project in the Gongxing district and generated sales worth 2016 billion won.
The police believed that Mr. Kim and others had spent a lot of money on the construction and minimized their profits by inflating it.
Yangpyeong County imposed a development levy of KRW 350.800 billion in November 2016, according to data submitted by ESI&D.
ESI&D filed an objection, claiming that the amount charged was high, and Yangpyeong-gun reduced the development levy to 11 million won in January 17.
Subsequently, ESI&D applied for another correction, and in June 4, Yangpyeong-gun finally decided not to impose a single penny of the development levy.
When it became known that the "development levy of 800 won" was related to the 2017 Gongheung Zone project before the 1th presidential election, suspicions of preferential treatment arose mainly in political circles, and Yangpyeong-gun belatedly corrected the development levy to 6 million won in November of the same year.
As a result of the investigation, the police believed that there was a problem with ESI&D's evidence process, and charged Kim and five others with falsifying personal documents and exercising.
After examining whether Yangpyeong-gun properly reviewed ESI&D's submissions, the police found it difficult to bring criminal penalties given that the officials in charge selected a specialized company and entrusted services to calculate the development levy.
No circumstances were found in which ESI&D lobbied against Yangpyeong for preferential treatment or convenience.
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The police decided not to extradite ESI&D's founder, President Yoon's mother-in-law, Choi Eun-soon, and First Lady Kim Kun-hee, who once served as an in-house director of the company.
According to the corporate registration, Choi founded ESI&D in July 2005, which is said to be a family company in which Choi and his children are 7% owned.
Mr. Choi resigned in November 100 after serving as the company's CEO, and Mr. Kim has been promoting the Gongheung District business ever since.
The police dismissed Mr. Choi without charge, believing that he had no direct involvement in the business, because he stepped down as CEO before the start of the project, such as the construction of an apartment.
Mrs. Kim also served as an in-house director of ESI&D in the past, but she resigned as an in-house director before pursuing the business, and since she did not have a stake, she decided that she had nothing to do with the business of the Gongheung District.
The police decided not to send Choi to farm, claiming that he would pursue farming, and had purchased land in Yangpyeong one after another since December 2014, but the statute of limitations (seven years) had passed on the "suspicion of illegal acquisition of farmland," which was actually for the purpose of real estate speculation.
Yangpyeong County civil servant A and others are accused of arbitrarily changing the deadline from "November 11" to "July 2005" after receiving an application from ESI&D for an extension of the project period in June 12, long after the deadline for completion of the urban development project in Gongheung District (November 7).
Changes in the area of the project and extension of the project period are "significant" matters in the decision to change the approval of urban development projects, and it is necessary to listen to opinions from residents and the council and approve the deputy county, but Mr. A and others prepared a report as if it were a "minor" change and handled it as if it were a "minor" change and handled it entirely by the Director of Regional Development.
The police believe that Mr. A and others did this because they were worried that if they went through such a procedure, the completion of the apartment would be delayed and complaints from prospective tenants would pour in.
Police said that the circumstances of ESI&D's lobbying have not been confirmed.
In August 2014, ESI&D proposed the designation of an urban development zone on 11,2016㎡ in Gongheung-ri, Yangpyeong-gun, and received approval for the implementation plan the following year.
ESI&D decided to build 6 apartments here in 2014 and completed the project in July 11.
However, suspicions of preferential treatment arose when it became known that no development levy was levied in the course of the project and that the project deadline had been extended retroactively belatedly.
In November 2016, the police received a complaint from a civic group asking them to "punish an unnamed licensing officer," and they have been investigating for one year and six months.
During this process, the police conducted forcible investigations, including seizures and searches of the Yangpyeong County Office and ESI&D, and summoned Kim and others involved to investigate.
A written investigation was conducted against Ms. Choi, and the accused together, President Yoon and Mrs. Kim, were found innocent and dismissed the accusations and did not proceed with the investigation.
(Photo = Yonhap News)