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S Korean president denies involvement in fraud scandal

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s office yesterday denied any involvement in a fraud case related to the nomination of candidates for parliamentary elections after his wife’s cousin was arrested.

The first lady’s 74-year-old cousin Kim Ok-hee is accused of receiving 3 billion won (US$3 million) to help a businessman become a ruling party candidate for elections last April.

“Prosecutors are investigating it, and there has been no record that Kim has visited the presidential office,” presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan told a press briefing yesterday.

“The prosecution will investigate it in such a transparent and speedy way that even not a single piece of suspicion should be left behind,” Lee Dong-kwan said.

The prosecutors’ suspect, Kim, may have tried to bribe ruling party officials to help the businessman, although his attempt to secure a candidacy failed and most of the money was returned.

Seoul’s Yonhap news agency said yesterday prosecutors were checking bank accounts held by the cousin.

“The probe focuses on tracing financial transactions through the bank accounts to check if the money flowed elsewhere,” an unnamed prosecution source told Yonhap.

Prosecutors, who have also arrested a 61-year-old man who allegedly acted as a broker between the cousin and the businessman, were not immediately available for comment.

Lee Myung-bak took office in February but his popularity has been seriously hit by a widely criticized decision to resume US beef imports, and by other controversial policies.


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