You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 640

You Have Been Defended – Episode 640 (640/641)

He was Prosecutor Song Yo-seop.

A junior prosecutor from the 35th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute, dispatched from the Financial Investigation Department of the Southern District Prosecutor’s Office.

The Financial Investigation Department of the Southern District Prosecutor’s Office is a source of fear for financial companies in Yeouido [the financial district of Seoul].

Song Yo-seop showed remarkable abilities even within the Financial Investigation Department, and he was considered a necessary talent, so a dispatch was requested.

I didn’t show any reaction and returned to my seat.

“Thank you for confirming, even though it must have been uncomfortable. I’m planning to form an internal audit team as a result of this incident. From now on, there won’t be any situations where you have to show me things like this directly. You may all leave.”

After the prosecutors left the conference room, I deliberately took my cigarette pack and headed to the smoking area.

I had smoked about half of it when Song Yo-seop quietly entered the smoking area.

He checked to see if anyone was in the smoking area, then approached me.

And without hesitation, he bowed deeply.

“Special Prosecutor, I am so sorry. I am truly sorry.”

I turned my gaze towards him.

Bent over at a 90-degree angle, he didn’t seem to have any intention of raising his head.

I left him alone until the cigarette burned down to the filter.

Then, I stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray and asked.

“Prosecutor Song, doesn’t your back hurt?”

“…….”

“That’s an order to straighten your back.”

He carefully raised his head, put his hands behind his back, and stood up.

“Were you pressured?”

“……Yes. But I won’t use that as an excuse. I’m sorry.”

[Truth]

“Did you receive any compensation for reporting the Special Investigation Team’s investigation details, or was anything promised?”

“No. That, that is absolutely not true.”

[Truth]

“It’s not that I don’t understand at all. After all, Prosecutor Song has to return to the Southern District Prosecutor’s Office when the special investigation is over.”

“…….”

“As soon as Prosecutor Song reported to Chief Prosecutor Geum Jeong-hwan, news of the search and seizure reached Go Sang-jun’s ears. This means that Chief Prosecutor Geum Jeong-hwan received money from Wooshin, right?”

“…….”

“Chief Prosecutor Geum Jeong-hwan won’t be in his position when Prosecutor Song returns to the Southern District Prosecutor’s Office. Is this enough motivation to withstand the pressure?”

He looked at me with a bewildered expression.

“……Are you going to keep me here?”

“I’m thinking about it if you promise that this kind of thing won’t happen again.”

A dispatched prosecutor who was kicked out not long after the special investigation began—what greater disgrace could there be?

If he had reported without being pressured or had been promised compensation, I would have dismissed him immediately.

“Never… I will absolutely make sure that never happens.”

[Truth]

“If I ever receive pressure or temptation again, I will immediately report it to the Special Prosecutor.”

[Truth]

I chose the dispatched prosecutors from the list given by Kim Jong-seok and Park Young-gi, but I didn’t think everyone would be flawless.

Rather, I think it’s fortunate that someone who can be reformed came because I chose from that list.

“Since this happened, the internal audit team can monitor Prosecutor Song in the future. Don’t think of it as unfair.”

“……Yes, of course. I am truly sorry.”

“I will make sure that it is not known to others that the internal audit team is monitoring Prosecutor Song.”

“Thank you for your consideration. And… I am also very grateful that you didn’t announce it in front of the other prosecutors. I will work hard in the future. I won’t let you down.”

[Truth]

“We have to keep seeing each other, and it’s tiring if colleagues suspect each other. Is there any need to create unnecessary situations?”

I turned to him and answered.

And added.

“I will request search and seizure warrants for Wooshin Strategic Planning Office, Wooshin Fire Insurance, and Wooshin Life Insurance. Prosecutor Song, you will execute the warrants.”

“Me, are you talking about me?”

“Did you think I trusted you too easily just now?”

“……I’m sorry, but I did.”

“Then is my decision to trust you now a bad choice?”

“No. Absolutely not. I am grateful.”

“If it is revealed that the information was leaked again by Prosecutor Song, I will let the media know and humiliate you. Will Prosecutor Song still execute the warrant?”

“……Yes. If you entrust it to me, I will do my best. I promise that absolutely, absolutely no information will leak to the outside. I will bet everything on it.”

[Truth]

This much confirmation is enough.

“What are you doing? Go and execute the warrant now.”

“Ah, yes!”

He bowed deeply once again and ran towards the Special Prosecutor’s Office.

Ah, working with so many people is hard after all.

Even if a lot of manpower is needed in the future, I should continue to go with a small, elite group.

* * *

[Special Investigation Team Conducts Surprise Search and Seizure of Wooshin Strategic Planning Office and 5 Other Locations… No Information Leaked This Time]

[Search and Seizure Even Extends to the Nephew of Wooshin Legal Team Leader… What’s There?]

[Special Investigation Team’s Excessive Abuse of Search and Seizure]

[Serious Invasion of Privacy Under the Guise of Uncovering the Truth]

[Special Investigation Team Summons Branch Manager of Wooshin Office Branch at Geumjeong Bank]

[Confiscated Items from Wooshin Strategic Planning Office and Affiliates Amount to 3 Truckloads]

Based on the nominee accounts [accounts held in someone else’s name to conceal the true owner] secured through the search and seizure of Go Sang-jun’s residence and the documents handed over by Kim Chan-young, a comprehensive search and seizure was conducted.

For security, the investigators were not informed of their destination until they arrived at the scene.

The hidden locations indicated in the documents handed over by Kim Chan-young totaled 12.

Four of them were already empty, possibly because they had been moved once more, but the rest were all found.

The results were very successful, but some media outlets, including Iljung Daily, criticized it as an excessive coercive investigation.

It wasn’t even that many search and seizures compared to the special investigations that had taken place so far.

Of course, other media outlets spared no praise.

Amid the attention of numerous media outlets viewing the same phenomenon in completely opposite ways, the Special Investigation Team became busier than ever.

Based on the information obtained from the confiscated items, numerous witnesses and suspects emerged, and small and large search and seizures continued.

The document shredding recovery work was also nearing completion.

There were a few documents that even the program gave up on, but far more were recovered.

As I spent such a hectic schedule, the day before the first regular briefing, which takes place every two weeks, was approaching.

Knock knock.

A knock was heard.

When Secretary Oh opened the door, Go Il-guk, Ha Yeo-jin, and Kang Min-jae were standing there.

“Special Prosecutor, tomorrow is the first investigation briefing. You know that, right?”

“You don’t mean you’ve forgotten. You’ve been here until midnight for the past few days.”

Ha Yeo-jin retorted to Go Il-guk’s question.

She had been busy with witness investigations at the House of Angels and Seoul Wooshin Hospital since the official start of the investigation.

Although she had made a lot of progress in the related investigation during her time at the Investigation Headquarters, it hasn’t been long since cooperation with Japanese investigative agencies began.

Analyzing the data pouring in from Japanese investigative agencies and coordinating the schedule for the repatriation of victims is also the responsibility of her Investigation Team 2.

The victims are being negotiated in the form of exchanging them with Shingaku University Hospital doctors, Onodera Shizuka, who are being held at the Korea Immigration Service.

“We are trying to report great results as it is the first briefing.”

“That’s why… How about the Special Prosecutor doing this briefing yourself?”

“Me?”

“There are articles about what the Special Prosecutor wore when you came to work and what watch you wore, so it’s a bit of a waste to only brief on the investigation results.”

“……Isn’t that an unusual phenomenon?”

“Rather than an unusual phenomenon, I think you should think that the public is paying so much attention to the Special Prosecutor that they are curious about even the smallest things. Haha.”

Ha Yeo-jin said with a laugh.

She often shows me articles about my fashion and says, ‘My son asked me to ask you what brand you’re wearing.’

“Public relations is the responsibility of Special Prosecutor Go Il-guk; wouldn’t it give the impression that I’m excessively interfering?”

“Rather, if the Special Prosecutor briefs directly, they will think that you are working hard and paying a lot of attention. Attorney Kang gave me a draft of the briefing, and the content is quite good. Special Prosecutor Ha and I have revised it a bit.”

At Go Il-guk’s words, Kang Min-jae placed two sheets of A4 paper filled with writing on my desk.

“It seems that the Special Prosecutors have already made up their minds.”

“That’s why we came together. Special Prosecutor Nam thinks the same way.”

Ha Yeo-jin said as if it were obvious.

“……I understand.”

* * *

The briefing room set up in the Special Prosecutor’s Office.

Reporters were packed outside the briefing room.

Before the briefing began, Kang Min-jae, who was preparing in advance, grabbed the microphone.

“Today’s investigation report regular briefing will be conducted directly by Special Prosecutor Cha Joo-han as it is the first briefing.”

After a brief announcement, Kang Min-jae checked the briefing script placed on the podium and stepped aside.

And I, who was outside, stepped inside.

Click, click! Tatatatak!

Flashes went off incessantly, and I safely arrived in front of the podium.

I neatly aligned the two slightly misaligned scripts and opened my mouth.

“I will begin the regular briefing on December 18, 2012. I will omit the content that has already been released due to time constraints. First, I will talk about the progress of the investigation.”

I made eye contact with the reporters for a moment and then continued.

“Through the last search and seizure, the Special Investigation Team discovered Go Sang-jun’s and Go Yoon-soo’s office PC hard disks, 1081 domestic nominee accounts, and nominee stocks that Wooshin Group’s Strategic Planning Office had hidden. In addition, we have obtained accounting fraud ledgers implemented by each affiliate at the direction of Go Sang-jun through the Strategic Planning Office for the purpose of creating slush funds [secret funds, often used for illegal activities].”

Amid the sound of keyboards filling the room, I moved my gaze to the next paragraph.

“As such, Go Sang-jun possessed considerable nominee assets in Korea, excluding paper companies established in tax havens, and used them privately or to bribe political figures in Korea. Among them, Yoon Tae-yong, head of the Central Investigation Department of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, Jin Hee-gak, head of the Gujin High Prosecutors’ Office, Na Sang-min, floor leader of the Minwoo Party, Park Yong-soo, Minister of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, and Geum Jeong-hwan, head of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office, vehemently denied the allegations, but through various investigations, it was confirmed that they met with executives of the Strategic Planning Office at a golf course in a remote area and received money, so arrest warrants were requested.”

As soon as I listed the names of the five high-ranking public officials, the reporters began to stir.

Those who had been expressionless and exhausted widened their eyes or opened their mouths wide and increased their typing speed.

They seemed to be greatly shocked by the fact that three incumbent high-ranking prosecutors were included.

I told Song Yo-seop that the head of the Southern District Prosecutors’ Office would not be in his position when he returned to the Southern District Prosecutors’ Office, and I was glad that I could keep my promise faster than I thought.

“In addition to these, 18 public officials who are suspected of receiving money of 50 million won or less have been identified and are scheduled to be investigated. That’s all. I’ll take questions.”

As the briefing ended, the microphone was handed over to the reporter.

“Is there any information you can disclose about the informant who told us the location of the evidence hidden by Wooshin Group?”

“No.”

“Are the 23 people you mentioned, 18 and 5, the people excluding the public officials written in the hostess bar attendance ledger?”

“Yes.”

“Then, are there more public officials who received money in addition to these 23 people?”

“There are more, including the content being verified.”

“So far, Kim Soo-chan and Gong Won-ho of the secretarial team have insisted that they ordered the organ trafficking business without Go Sang-jun knowing anything, and that RND, the owner of the Ribbon Medical Center site, is also theirs. Haven’t they changed their statements about this?”

“Kim Soo-chan and Gong Won-ho have not made any statements that contradict their previous statements. However, considering the investigation so far, we believe that the statements of Kim Soo-chan and Gong Won-ho are very unreliable.”

Perhaps because it was the first briefing, reporters were seen here and there fidgeting to ask questions.

It seems that the Q&A will be long.

“There has been no witness summons for Kim Mi-ja, who is a key witness. Is there no plan to confront her with Go Sang-jun?”

“Kim Mi-ja made sufficient statements during the Investigation Headquarters, but we can request additional attendance if necessary. The same goes for confrontation.”

“Go Sang-jun’s defense team has applied for a suspension of execution of detention due to Go Sang-jun’s deteriorating health. What do you think about this?”

“The decision on whether to suspend the execution of detention is up to the court, but Go Sang-jun showed a deceptive attitude at the time of the summons, repeatedly answering that he did not remember or did not know, even though the evidence was clear. At the same time, it has been confirmed that he systematically hid and destroyed evidence in preparation for the search and seizure, so it is our opinion that it is appropriate to maintain the detention status.”

After that, I was able to leave the briefing room only after 20 minutes of Q&A.

[The weather in Italy is really nice. Korea was too cold, but it’s a bit warmer here haha. The ESTA [Electronic System for Travel Authorization] has also been approved, so I’m going to stay here a little longer before moving on]

I came into the room and checked my phone, and a message had arrived from Kim Chan-young.

It seemed that it had been a few days since Kim Chan-young left the country, so he was now able to enter the United States.

Then I should start pressuring Kim Soo-chan now.

“Secretary.”

“Yes.”

“Summon Kim Soo-chan in prison.”

It seems that they are still trying to cover it up, saying that the Special Investigation Team has not found RND’s and Go Sang-jun’s overseas accounts.

It would be better to reverse it now before Choi Jong-hyun blows it up.

And also tell me the location of the slush fund ledger.