You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 638

You Have Been Defended – Episode 638 (638/641)

[Choi Jong-hyun: I heard the news that Sang-joon Ko’s arrest warrant was issued two hours ago, and the excitement hasn’t subsided.

Jo Bong-joon: LOL, me too.

Jo Bong-joon: I’m more excited than when Tae-young hit the upper limit [referring to a stock price hitting its maximum allowed increase in a day].

Jo Bong-joon: The rich are arrested side by side. LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL

Heo Min-woo: Are you as excited as the number of ‘ㅋ’s you typed [Korean equivalent of ‘lol’]?

Jo Bong-joon: Are you kidding me? Then I’d have to type ‘ㅋ’ until I die.

Choi Jong-hyun: I was in a video meeting with iaij reporters when the breaking news came out.ㅋㅋ But because I couldn’t concentrate, the Indian reporter asked if I was listening to him.

Choi Jong-hyun: So I said sorry, and he asked if something was wrong.

Choi Jong-hyun: So I told him I was so happy that Sang-joon Ko was arrested that I couldn’t calm down, and he smiled brighter than me and said congratulations.

Choi Jong-hyun: Cha Special Prosecutor, open your mouth and wait. Soon, I’ll bring the account and paper company database that Sang-joon buried in the Virgin Islands to the special prosecutor’s office. It’s really not much time left.ㅋ

Kang Min-jae: Give it to me quickly.ㅋㅋ I want to use violence because Sang-joon keeps saying he doesn’t know.

Choi Jong-hyun: By the way, I’m worried about Sang-joon…

Kang Min-jae: Weren’t you busy? How little work do you have that you’re worried about Sang-joon?

Choi Jong-hyun: He needs to adapt well in the detention center…

Kang Min-jae: What’s with you all of a sudden?ㅋㅋㅋ

Choi Jong-hyun: He needs to adapt well in prison too… He has to live there until he dies…

Kang Min-jae: LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL]

I headed to the special prosecutor’s office, checking the accumulated messages on the messenger.

After hearing the news of Ko Sang-joon’s arrest, I talked to them, and it seems they were excitedly chatting until dawn.

I also fell asleep quite comfortably last night.

In my previous life as a special prosecutor, no matter how many arrest warrants I requested for Ko Sang-joon, they were all rejected, so this was a first for me.

There was joy in seeing Ko Sang-joon in a difficult situation, but the fact that he would be feeling helpless was even more significant.

The helplessness of being trapped in prison and unable to do anything even as his life falls apart.

It’s nothing compared to what the victims exploited by Wooshin felt, though.

We need to take advantage of this momentum and accelerate even further.

So, Kang Min-jae and I woke up early and arrived at the special prosecutor’s office around 7:30 AM.

“This is really something.”

“I didn’t even know something like this existed.”

“I saw it in dramas, but I didn’t know it was an actual technology.”

When I arrived at the office, Lee Ye-jin and several investigators were gathered in front of a computer.

“What are you talking about?”

Kang Min-jae, also curious, naturally blended in and checked the monitor.

“Oh? Special Prosecutor, you’re here too. Special Prosecutor, the shredded document recovery program is seriously amazing. It’s already pieced together 53 pages.”

The shredded document recovery program is a technology that was developed about two years ago based on current techniques.

I had been considering the shredded document recovery program since we brought in a lot of shredded material from the search and seizure site.

I heard that there are even specialized companies overseas.

So I asked the National Intelligence Service [NIS; South Korean intelligence agency] about it.

I said that it wasn’t necessary to recover the entire document, but it would be helpful if we could check the account number, account holder name, and bank name at the top.

The National Intelligence Service checked the size of the pieces and said it was possible if the document format was the same and the scanner’s performance was very good.

As a result, several computers in the special prosecutor’s team are currently running the recovery program.

“Good morning.”

As it turned 8 AM, the special prosecutor’s office gradually began to fill up.

“Special Prosecutor, do you have any external schedules today?”

I was about to enter my office when I heard a voice from behind.

I turned around and saw Lee Min-gyu from the National Tax Service [NTS; South Korean tax authority] holding coffee and looking at me with tired eyes.

“No, I don’t have any today.”

“Then later…”

He checked his watch for a moment and then continued.

“Around 9:30 AM, I was wondering if I could report on the nominee accounts [accounts held under someone else’s name to conceal the true owner] found in the un-shredded documents with Special Prosecutor Nam Chang-wook and Investigation Team Leader Park Young-ki. Geumjeong Bank sent it the fastest, so I processed it first. I need to compare it with other bank accounts, but there are peculiarities in the accounts opened at Wooshin headquarters branches of Geumjeong Bank, so I’ll report on that first.”

The processing speed was tremendous.

I’m glad I asked for Lee Min-gyu to be dispatched.

The number of nominee accounts we found in the search and seizure that were not shredded was 572.

Among them, 311 accounts were from Geumjeong Bank.

Even though it was a mix of domestic first-tier and second-tier financial institutions and securities companies, the fact that Geumjeong Bank’s share was so high was proof that their collusion existed.

Nevertheless, the reason why they sent the information first among financial companies is probably because the fact that Ko Yoon-soo’s nominee accounts existed in Geumjeong Bank had already been revealed.

It seemed they wanted to give the impression that they were faithfully cooperating with the investigation.

“If that shredded document recovery program has completed 53 in a little less than two days, should we expect it to take about fifteen days to grasp the whole picture?”

Lee Min-gyu asked the investigator sitting in front of the computer running the recovery program.

“At the current speed, it seems so.”

“Then we need to finish figuring out the remaining 261 accounts within that time. I understand.”

And Lee Min-gyu disappeared again with tired eyes.

* * *

“First, to confirm whether the accounts in the search and seizure files are nominee accounts, we reviewed the account holders’ ID card copies held by Geumjeong Bank.”

He pointed to a photo of an ID card copy displayed on the screen with a laser pointer.

“Originally, when opening an account, the bank must receive the original and make a copy to keep. But if you look here, the text quality is somewhat poor.”

He circled the name and part of the resident registration number [Korean equivalent of a social security number] with the laser.

“This is a phenomenon that occurs because it is a copy of a copy. It is a typical characteristic of nominee accounts. It means that they brought a copy of the ID card, not the original, when opening the account. In principle, it is a situation where the account should not be opened. Therefore, I will report on the assumption that it is definitely a nominee account.”

Lee Min-gyu moved to the next screen.

It was a table summarizing the opening branches of nominee accounts opened at Geumjeong Bank.

“As you can see, out of 311 nominee accounts opened at Geumjeong Bank, 207 were opened at the Wooshin headquarters branch. Also, out of these 207, 98 accounts were opened under the names of strategic planning team employees, and the remaining 109 were opened under the names of Wooshin affiliate executives.”

“Is the headquarters you’re talking about only the Jongno headquarters?”

Nam Chang-wook asked.

Then Lee Min-gyu shook his head.

“The accounts under the names of strategic planning team employees are at the Jongno headquarters, and the remaining executives’ accounts are at Geumjeong Bank branches located in each affiliate’s headquarters. Since there are affiliates located in the Jongno headquarters, if we only count those created in the Jongno headquarters, it’s a total of 129. More will come out when the shredded data is recovered. There are still some connections that are not visible.”

“The investigation headquarters summoned the branch manager of the Geumjeong Bank branch located in the Wooshin Jongno headquarters once. At that time, it was to confirm the withdrawal of cash from the nominee account under the name of a strategic planning team employee to kill Cheon Jong-nam, but…”

Nam Chang-wook said up to this point and subtly looked at me.

He seemed to be reminded that Cheon Jong-nam was a contract killer mobilized to kill me.

When I didn’t react differently, he cleared his throat and continued.

“Anyway, at that time, the investigation headquarters asked about the nominee account of the strategic planning team employee used by Ko Yoon-soo, and the branch manager admitted it. At that time, the branch manager said that there seemed to be only about 10 nominee accounts used in that way. But now, instead of 10, he made more than 129.”

At that time, the branch manager was intensively questioned about Ko Yoon-soo’s nominee accounts.

When asked if he knew anything about the nominee accounts used by Ko Sang-joon or Wooshin at the corporate level, he said he didn’t know well.

But looking at the list of nominee accounts, it’s impossible not to know.

Moreover, he said that all the account holders’ IDs were copies of copies.

This means that the branch manager received a pile of copies from Wooshin and mechanically opened the accounts.

It is highly likely that even the account holders do not know the existence of the nominee accounts.

There have already been countless such cases.

In this situation, if he said he only knew about 10 nominee accounts, it is a clear lie.

Admitting a few nominee accounts wouldn’t cause him much harm, but if he was asked to admit hundreds, the problem would become bigger, so he seems to have made a reduced statement.

“We will summon the branch manager.”

When Nam Chang-wook said, Hong Seung-ho, who was dispatched from the Seobu District Prosecutor’s Office sitting next to him, began to write a summons.

“So far, the route for putting slush funds [secret, often illegal funds] into the nominee accounts confirmed by the investigation headquarters was the false payment of insurance money from Wooshin Fire and Wooshin Life. So, first, I checked the details of deposits from Wooshin Fire and Wooshin Life.”

When Lee Min-gyu clicked the remote control, the insurance payment details in the deposit and withdrawal history were highlighted in yellow.

“There are a total of 244 cases. But it’s relatively small money. From a few hundred to a few thousand, a hundred million, and at most 200 million won for fire insurance. It seems like they received it little by little, just to fill their pocket money.”

“The investigation headquarters asked Wooshin employees who received insurance money to explain, but the data hasn’t come in yet, right? Wooshin Life and Wooshin Fire said they couldn’t give personal information.”

“That’s right. But among the money that came in from Wooshin Fire and Life, there is also money put in under the name of commissions, not insurance payments. There are really a lot of details, but if you add them all up, it’s about 500 million won. That was not the headquarters executive’s account, but the agency heads’ accounts. This is a case I’ve seen many times, so I’m sure that the insurance solicited by an employee of the insurance company was processed as if it was done by an agency or a solicitor belonging to it. It’s a typical type. There were even agencies that didn’t actually exist.”

Lee Min-gyu displayed an article about a related case on the screen.

“And as I looked through the data, I was quite impressed by the details of a few thousand to a few hundred million won being deposited into a total of 20 accounts on the same day. All 20 of them were accounts under the names of Wooshin Corporation executives. A similar phenomenon was also found in the accounts under the names of Wooshin Motors executives. Such money was deposited into 15 accounts.”

“Are those the only two cases?”

Lee Min-gyu shook his head at my question.

“There are countless cases processed in this way. In terms of amount alone, it’s 13.1 billion won from Wooshin Corporation and 4.8 billion won from Wooshin Motors. The bank’s transaction slip retention period is 5 years, so this is only looking at transaction details within 5 years. It will be more if you include other banks and shredded documents. And even if you add all that up, wouldn’t they only leave the money that they can use comfortably in Korea and put it in nominee accounts? The total amount they embezzled will be much larger. They would have piled up that money separately or put it in overseas banks.”

“Generally, the biggest embezzlement can be done in construction, trade, or manufacturing. In manufacturing, they inflate the order amount to subcontractors, and the subcontractors return the difference in cash while bearing all the corporate taxes. Is there a way to keep getting work if you don’t? And when it comes to melting money, construction is the best.”

Park Young-ki raised his thumb.

“You can melt a lot with labor costs alone. The workers get paid in cash anyway, so there’s no record left. You carve a fake seal, stamp it, write in the ledger that you paid the workers, and then have the money sent back in cash.”

If the prosecution is determined to find it, the slush fund will inevitably be uncovered.

That’s why Park Young-ki, who had been in the prosecution for a long time, knew their methods well.

This is why large corporations are desperate to bribe prosecutors.

“I can’t help it.”

The scope of the investigation also includes the creation of Wooshin’s illegal slush fund.

If we tell them to submit all the related details, they will destroy the evidence again and not give it to us, right?

We have no choice but to forcibly take it.

“So far, the places that have been confirmed are Wooshin Fire, Wooshin Life, Wooshin Motors, and Wooshin Corporation, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Should we issue search and seizure warrants for those four places for now?”

“It is highly likely that the warrants for Wooshin Motors and Wooshin Corporation will be rejected. There is only circumstantial evidence that money went into the executives’ accounts.”

“Then should we do Wooshin Fire and Wooshin Life like this?”

“I’ll include the strategic planning team. There are plenty of reasons since nominee accounts under the names of strategic planning team employees have come out in droves.”

“The search and seizure conducted during the investigation headquarters era didn’t produce any proper results, right? Moreover, isn’t it a time when a lot of time has passed? Wooshin had too much time.”

Nam Chang-wook expressed concern.

According to Kim Mi-ja’s testimony that strategic planning team personnel actively participated in hostess bar operations, the investigation headquarters also conducted a search and seizure of the strategic planning team.

As a matter of course, they were unable to find anything useful due to their organized evidence concealment.

“A big catch came out even in the search and seizure of Ko Sang-joon’s house, which was conducted a long time later. You never know.”

Park Young-ki added strength to my opinion.

“Then three places including the strategic planning team… What are you going to do with Wooshin Motors and Wooshin Corporation?”

“If evidence comes out from the strategic planning team, it will be possible to search there as well.”

“Are you saying we should raid all three places at the same time?”

“Yes. If a vehicle leaves the special prosecutor’s team, they will notice the search. So, we will enter the Wooshin Life and Fire headquarters first, and then raid the strategic planning team as soon as they let their guard down.”

“Should we issue the warrant right now?”

“First, just write it and wait. I will set the timing to put it in court separately.”

First, I need to meet Kim Chan-young and get information.

He must have participated in evidence concealment as a member of the strategic planning team as well.

“The entire contents of today’s meeting should only be known to those in this conference room.”

“We will keep the secret.”

Heung Seung-ho replied.

He was the person who was judged to be telling the truth when he was urged to answer about security during the special prosecutor’s team’s official investigation day.

“I will do that too.”

Lee Min-gyu then replied.

Again, the word [Truth] 떠올랐다 [rose] above both of their heads.

I left the conference room and called Kim Chan-young.

To be able to legally dig into Ko Sang-joon’s territory and steal evidence.

This is the taste of an investigative agency.