You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 639

You Have Been Defended – Episode 639 (639/641)

“It’s been a while, Attorney.”

I met Kim Chan-young at a small villa in southern Gyeonggi Province.

It was purchased by a cousin who received a lot of help from Kim Hwa-young, and Kim Chan-young also occasionally visits this place to clear his head.

Before sitting down across from me, he looked out the large window facing the outside and tilted his head as if something was strange.

“There’s no way the Attorney would have something weird attached. Is that car yours?”

He pointed to Tae-shik’s vehicle circling the villa.

“Ah, that’s my bodyguard.”

“You’re still traveling with a bodyguard? Even if Go Sang-jun has gone crazy, it’s already been revealed that he’s tried to kill you several times. Besides, you’ve become a special prosecutor, so he wouldn’t do such a crazy thing, would he?”

“That’s right. So, I’ve lowered the level of security a bit. He follows in another car, shakes off anyone tailing me when I go somewhere, and prevents any possible accidents.”

“So that’s why he keeps circling. Don’t worry. Go Sang-jun doesn’t know about this place.”

Kim Chan-young sat across from me and began to speak.

“You finally did it, Attorney.”

“Did what?”

“Took down Go Sang-jun. To be honest, when I first approached you, I didn’t think you could really take him down, but I never thought this day would actually come. I think I chose the right side. I even popped champagne the day Go Sang-jun was arrested.”

[Truth]

I don’t doubt Kim Chan-young.

He made such a significant contribution that I wouldn’t have been able to get this far without him.

However, I don’t contact him very often, so I don’t know much about what’s happening in Kim Chan-young’s life.

He’s not the type to open up completely to me.

Who knows what kind of change of heart he might have had in the meantime.

Especially since Go Sang-jun seemed to cherish him so much, even though he wasn’t his legitimate son.

I just wanted to check.

“It’s too early to celebrate. He’s only been arrested.”

“That’s true. Kim Soo-chan and Gong Won-ho, those two are really loyal. The fact that they’re willing to take the fall is… Well, if they didn’t, they’d be pressured to commit suicide. Maybe they still are.”

It’s not surprising that when a prominent figure in politics and business gets caught up in trouble with the prosecution, their close aides often commit suicide.

“I’m going to raid the Strategy Office one more time.”

“Ah. You’re asking me to give you information on where they hid the evidence, right?”

Kim Chan-young smiled and slid a thick file across the table to me.

“I thought the investigation headquarters would ask me when the search warrant came out, but I thought it was strange that you didn’t say anything. Did you do that on purpose? Waiting for me to figure out where they hid the evidence before raiding it during the special prosecution’s search.”

“That too, and other reasons as well.”

If I had received Kim Chan-young’s help back then, he would have been in danger.

When applying for a search warrant, you must specify the scope of the search and the items to be seized.

Evidence found and seized outside this scope is illegally collected evidence, no matter how crucial it may be.

Before the investigation headquarters’ search began, Woo-shin would have moved the evidence outside the Strategy Office.

To get a warrant for such places, you need a justification that there was a tip-off.

But haven’t I already used the name of an insider from the Strategy Office once to reveal the identities of codenames NP and BB1?

If another story comes out that an insider from the Strategy Office leaked information, Woo-shin would put all his efforts into finding them.

No matter how careful Kim Chan-young was, there’s no way he wouldn’t be exposed if Woo-shin was determined to find him after experiencing two problematic situations.

“Ah, there’s something I want to confirm.”

“What is it?”

“When you raided Go Sang-jun’s house, the Strategy Office knew about it as soon as the warrant was issued, right?”

“Of course.”

“Do you know where they got the information?”

“I don’t know about that, but I heard this story early in the case. They used to get news quickly from the court. But this time, all three judges in charge of warrants at the Central District Court and the public relations judge didn’t take money, so they were in trouble. They tried to bribe them using distant relatives, but it didn’t work.”

“Really? That’s enough.”

If it didn’t leak from the court, it leaked from within the special prosecution team.

I opened the file Kim Chan-young handed me and started reading.

“Hiding the nominee stock ledger under the floor of the head of the legal team’s nephew-in-law’s house is quite innovative.”

“It has to be someone like a nephew-in-law to be outside the scope of suspicion.”

The documents in the file were stamped with a red “Handle with Care” seal.

Each piece of evidence had a fairly specific location recorded.

In addition to the Strategy Office, Woo-shin Fire, and Woo-shin Life, there were more places to raid.

“Unfortunately, only Kim Soo-chan, Go Sang-jun’s treasurer, knows the location of the slush fund ledger.”

“Kim Soo-chan?”

“Yes. I heard that all the money given to various people, including those in politics and business, is written in that slush fund ledger. The Strategy Office believes that they can only trace less than half of the nominee account transaction details they took from Go Sang-jun’s house. Since they usually give cash, it’s harder to find evidence the older it is. But if you find that, you can find out everything.”

“How much is there?”

“About one box. I saw it myself. Kim Soo-chan loading it into a car before turning himself in.”

“Did you check the license plate?”

“I did, but it’ll be hard to track. He probably switched cars a lot while moving it.”

Kim Chan-young flipped through the file in my hand and showed me a photo that was inserted.

“I was planning to call Kim Soo-chan in for questioning soon, but I should hold off on this.”

“Why?”

“If you interrogate him with this photo, you’ll be exposed. If you check the parking lot CCTV, it’ll show that you were nearby at the time.”

“Ah.”

“You should slowly get out of Woo-shin too. This seems like a document that only a very small number of insiders in the Strategy Office have access to.”

“Still, there are about 15 people. They won’t be able to identify me that quickly. I’m also using a separate burner phone when contacting you, Attorney.”

“It won’t take them too long either. Why don’t you go to America where Kim Hwa-young is before it gets dangerous?”

“Yes, I should. I’ve prepared everything, and I’ve packed my bags lightly. I can leave as early as tomorrow. When are you planning to apply for the search warrant?”

“After you leave the country. Book a flight now in front of me.”

Kim Chan-young chuckled as if he was dumbfounded at my words.

“I haven’t applied for ESTA [Electronic System for Travel Authorization, required for visa-free travel to the US] yet. I can’t enter the United States.”

“Do you have a favorite travel destination?”

“Travel destination? Uh… Italy?”

“Then book a flight to Italy. Relax there, apply for ESTA, and enter when the review is complete.”

Kim Chan-young sighed and opened his laptop.

Then he accessed the airline website and started looking for flights.

“There’s one departing at 5 PM tomorrow.”

“There’s also one at 8 AM tomorrow. Book that one. Go home now, prepare diligently, and go to the airport by 5 PM.”

“No, then I won’t be able to sleep and have to go to the airport.”

“Sleep on the plane.”

“……”

“Book it, quickly. Do you not have money? Should I book it with my card?”

“Would I not have money? Ha, really……”

“I’ll send a staff member to the airport to check if you’re really leaving.”

Kim Chan-young eventually booked a ticket to Italy.

He showed me the window that the payment was completed and closed his laptop.

“When I first met you, Attorney, I thought you were the type to have no blood or tears and just use people.”

“Do people with no blood or tears become prosecutors and lawyers?”

“There are many such people. Anyway, I didn’t think you would try to protect me this much. Honestly, you could suck the marrow out of Go Sang-jun’s illegitimate child.”

“Why would I suck your marrow?”

“I just wanted to say again that I have a good eye for people. Thank you.”

Kim Chan-young smiled at me.

A subtle smile that seemed to mix liberation and an unknown emotion.

I’ve known Kim Chan-young for a long time, but this was the first time I’ve felt this from him.

“I’m more grateful. You’ve worked hard all this time.”

“……It feels really strange to hear you say thank you to me. Please say it one more time.”

“Why?”

“Well… I graduated summa cum laude [with the highest distinction], you know? The feeling is very similar to that. Hurry up and say it one more time.”

“No.”

Why are there so many people who want to be praised by me?

* * *

The next day, I gathered all the dispatched prosecutors except for Park Young-gi, Kim Jong-seok, and Lee Ye-jin in the conference room.

“Take out your cell phones and put them on the table.”

The prosecutors looked puzzled, but they put their cell phones on the table.

“There’s something I want to confirm.”

“What is it……”

“As you know from the situation during the last search of Go Sang-jun’s house, they were destroying evidence after receiving news in advance.”

“……”

“It took 15 minutes for the special prosecution team to depart from the special prosecution office and arrive at Go Sang-jun’s house. This happened even though Go Sang-jun himself was not notified.”

The prosecutors seemed to realize what I was saying.

Their expressions hardened in an instant.

“Even the reporters knew that the special prosecution team was heading to Go Sang-jun’s house. It wasn’t a speculative article, but a confirmed article. When I checked who released the first report, it was a reporter from Iljung Ilbo who was in front of the special prosecution office. But at that time, the special prosecution team investigators immediately got into the car as soon as they heard the news, and there was no time to contact the reporters.”

The reason why Iljung Ilbo bothered to report the news of the house search is clear.

It’s to claim that Woo-shin didn’t receive the news of the search in advance with the money they spread to political and business circles, but that they knew about it after reading the article.

“I think it’s because someone among the dispatched prosecutors reported to the prosecution in real time as soon as the warrant was issued.”

At my words, the prosecutors exchanged glances with surprised expressions.

Then one person opened their mouth.

“Special Prosecutor, I’m sorry to interrupt. If Iljung Ilbo released the first report, we can consider other possibilities even if it wasn’t us. It’s entirely possible for the investigators to give information by phone or text. It could have leaked from the court even if it wasn’t an insider in the special prosecution team.”

“Is that so? Then does everyone here mean that they did not report to the prosecution that a search warrant was issued for Go Sang-jun’s house?”

Park Young-gi, Kim Jong-seok, and Lee Ye-jin have already been verified for their abilities.

If it leaked from the prosecution, there are only these 7 people left.

“Yes.”

[Truth]

The words floated above the head of the prosecutor who answered confidently.

It was Hong Seung-ho from the Western District Prosecutor’s Office, who was in the conference room yesterday.

As he answered, the others naturally began to answer.

“Yes.”

Everyone except one liar was telling the truth.

I sent him a look.

It was to put pressure on him to answer when he had something good to say since I already knew.

“The reason why I asked for strict security on the official investigation start date is because the dispatched prosecutors take it for granted that they report the contents of the special prosecution’s investigation to the prosecution.”

“……”

“But our special prosecution team is investigating allegations that Woo-shin illegally lobbied political and business figures. So far, it has been revealed that there were people among the prosecution insiders who frequented the yujeong [Korean-style room salon or hostess bar]. That’s why this special prosecution team must pay close attention to security.”

I looked around at the prosecutors and said.

“Since everyone here said they didn’t report to the prosecution, I think they will confidently show me their call logs.”

“Special Prosecutor, that’s……”

“I don’t need any other logs. From the time the warrant was issued to the time the Iljung Ilbo reporter released the first report. Just show me the call history during that time. I think this will solve the privacy issue. Both the person suspecting and the person being suspected will not feel uncomfortable. I hope the relationship of trust is not broken from the beginning of the investigation.”

Everyone has taken out their cell phones, so if they do anything other than unlocking the phone and swiping the screen up, it means they are deleting the list.

The prosecutors all knew that fact.

There is a possibility that they deleted the list in advance, but I think it is almost impossible.

They wouldn’t bother hiding something they thought was natural, and they wouldn’t have thought that I would come out and check the list like this just a few days after the start of the investigation.

“……”

As Hong Seung-ho began to unlock his cell phone screen, the other prosecutors also began to unlock and swipe up their screens in succession.

I also started checking.

Just as I stopped in front of the cell phone of the prosecutor who had the word “lie” above his head.

[Outgoing: Geum Jeong-hwan, Head of the Southern District Prosecutor’s Office]

There it is.