You Are Defended - Chapter 640



Only Noblemtl

Episode 640

He is prosecutor Song Yeo-seop.

He is a 35th class prosecutor dispatched from the Financial Investigation Department of the Southern District Prosecutors’ Office.

The Southern District Prosecutors’ Office’s Financial Investigation Department is a source of fear for financial institutions in Yeouido.

Song Yo-seop showed outstanding ability in the Ministry of Finance, and they requested his dispatch as they thought he was a necessary talent.

I returned to my seat without showing it.

“I know it must have been uncomfortable, but thank you for letting me know. I plan to form an internal audit team based on this incident. In the future, you will no longer have to show me this directly. You can all leave.”

After the inspectors left the conference room, I deliberately walked toward the smoking area holding a pack of cigarettes.

When it was about halfway done.

Song Yo-seop quietly entered the smoking area.

He looked around to make sure there was no one in the smoking area, then approached me.

And without delay, he bowed deeply.

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

I turned my gaze towards him.

He had his body bent at a 90 degree angle and didn’t seem to have any intention of raising his head.

I left him alone until the cigarette burned all the way to the filter.

Then he asked, stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray.

“Prosecutor Song. Doesn’t your back hurt?”

“… … .”

“I told you to straighten your back.”

He carefully raised his head and stood with his hands behind his back.

“Are you under pressure?”

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

[truth]

“Have you received any compensation or been promised anything in return for reporting on the special prosecution team’s investigation results?”

“None. That, that absolutely does not exist.”

[truth]

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

“… … .”

“As soon as Prosecutor Song reported to Chief Prosecutor Geum Jeong-hwan, news of the seizure reached Ko Sang-jun’s ears. Does this mean Chief Prosecutor Geum Jeong-hwan received money from Woo Shin?”

“… … .”

“When Prosecutor Song returns to the Southern District Prosecutors’ Office, Chief Prosecutor Geum Jeong-hwan will not be there. Will this be enough motivation to withstand the pressure?”

He looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“… … Are you going to let me stay?”

“If you promise me that this won’t happen again, I will do so.”

What could be more humiliating than being kicked out as a dispatched prosecutor shortly after the special prosecutor’s investigation began?

If he had reported without being pressured or promised a reward, he would have been fired immediately.

“Absolutely… … . I will never let that happen.”

[truth]

“If I feel pressured or tempted again, I will report it to the special prosecutor immediately.”

[truth]

I chose the dispatched inspectors from the list given by Kim Jong-seok and Park Young-gi, but I did not expect them all to be flawless.

Rather, I think it was fortunate that someone came along who could fix it because I chose it from that list.

“Since this happened, the internal audit team can keep an eye on Prosecutor Song in the future. Don’t feel wronged.”

“… … Yes, of course. I’m really sorry.”

“I will not let anyone know that the internal audit team is keeping an eye on Prosecutor Song.”

“Thank you for your consideration. And… … . I also really appreciate that you didn’t tell the other inspectors. I will work hard in the future. I won’t let you down.”

[truth]

“We’ll have to keep seeing each other’s faces, so it’ll be tiring if we start suspecting each other. Is there any need to create unnecessary situations?”

I looked back at him and answered.

And added:

“We will request a search and seizure warrant for Wooshin Strategy Office, Wooshin Fire, and Wooshin Life. Prosecutor Song will issue the warrant.”

“Is that you?”

“Did you just think I was trusting you too easily?”

“… … I’m sorry, but that’s what happened.”

“So what I’ve chosen to believe now is a wrong choice?”

“No, absolutely not. I appreciate it.”

“If it is revealed that this was done by Prosecutor Song again, he will report it to the press and embarrass me. Do you think Prosecutor Song will still issue an arrest warrant?”

“… … Yes. If you leave it to me, I will do my best. I will never, ever let anything leak out. I promise you with everything I have.”

[truth]

I hope this much has been confirmed.

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

“Oh, yes!”

He bowed his head deeply once more and ran toward the special prosecutor’s office.

Ah, I guess working with a lot of people is hard.

Even if we need a lot of manpower later, we will have to continue to stick to a small elite force.

* * *

[Special Prosecutor, Surprise Search and Seizure of 5 Locations Including Wooshin Strategy Office… No Information Leaked This Time]

[The house of the nephew of the head of the legal team was searched… What was there?]

[Excessive search and seizure by special prosecutors]

[Serious violation of privacy under the pretext of finding out the truth]

[Special Prosecutor Summons Branch Manager of Geumjeong Bank Usin Branch Office]

[Items seized from Wooshin Strategy Office and affiliates, equivalent to 3 1-ton trucks]

A search and seizure was conducted in bulk based on the documents handed over by Kim Chan-young and the accounts in another person’s name secured through a search and seizure of Ko Sang-jun’s home.

For security reasons, investigators were not told where they were going until they arrived at the scene.

There are a total of 12 hidden locations indicated in the document handed over by Kim Chan-young.

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

The results were very successful, but some media outlets, including the Ilbo, criticized it as an excessively coercive investigation.

Compared to the special investigations that have taken place so far, the number of searches and seizures has not been that great.

Of course, other media outlets did not spare their praise.

The special prosecution team has become busier than ever amid the interest of numerous media outlets that view the same phenomenon in the opposite way.

Information from the seized items led to the creation of numerous witnesses and suspects, and large and small searches and seizures followed.

The work to recover shredded documents is also nearing its final stages.

Although there were a few documents that even the program had abandoned, there were many more that were salvaged.

As I was going through such a hectic schedule, the first regular briefing held every two weeks was just one day away.

dripping.

There was a knock.

When Manager Oh opened the door, Go Il-guk, Hae-jin, and Kang Min-jae were standing there.

“Special Prosecutor, tomorrow is the first investigation briefing. Do you understand?”

“You wouldn’t know that. You’ve been up until midnight the past few days.”

Haejin answered Go Il-gook’s question.

She was busy with the Angel’s House and Seoul Wooshin Hospital witness interviews from the official start of the investigation.

Although we made a lot of progress in related investigations during the days of the investigation headquarters, it hasn’t been that long since we started cooperating with Japanese investigative agencies.

Her Investigation Team 2 job also includes analyzing the data pouring in from Japanese investigative agencies and coordinating the schedule for the victims’ repatriation.

The victims are currently negotiating with the Shin-Gaku University Hospital doctors, Shizuka Onodera, who are being held by the Korean Immigration Office.

“As this is the first briefing, we are working hard to report great results.”

“So… … How about the special prosecutor personally conducting this briefing?”

“Me?”

“In a time when articles are being published about what the special prosecutor wore to work and what watch he wore, isn’t it a bit of a waste to only hold a briefing when the investigation results are reported?”

“… … Isn’t that a strange phenomenon?”

“Rather than saying it’s a strange phenomenon, I think the public is so interested in the special prosecution that they’re curious about even the smallest things. Haha.”

Haejin said with a smile.

She often shows me my fashion articles and says, “My son asked me to tell him what brand the special prosecutor is wearing.”

“Public relations is the job of Special Prosecutor Ko Il-guk, but won’t it give the impression that I am overreacting?”

“Rather, if the special prosecutor personally briefs, people will think that he is working hard and putting in a lot of effort. Kang Byun gave me a draft of the briefing content, and it is quite good. Special prosecutor Ha and I revised it a bit.”

In response to Go Il-gook’s words, Kang Min-jae placed two sheets of A4 paper with dense writing on them on my desk.

“It seems like the special prosecutors have already made up their minds.”

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

Haejin said as if asking why he was saying such an obvious thing.

“……All right.”

* * *

Briefing room set up in the special prosecutor’s office.

Reporters were swarming outside the briefing room.

Before the briefing began, Kang Min-jae, who had been preparing in advance, took the microphone.

“As today’s regular briefing on the investigation report is the first briefing, Special Prosecutor Cha Ju-han will personally conduct it.”

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

And then I, who was outside, went inside.

Click, click! Tata-tata!

The flashes went off incessantly, and I arrived safely at the podium.

I opened my mouth after aligning the two slightly misaligned scripts neatly.

“We will now begin the regular briefing for December 18, 2012. Due to time constraints, we will omit information that has already been made public. First, we will talk about the progress of the investigation.”

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

“Through the previous search and seizure, the special prosecutors discovered the hard disks of the PCs in the offices of Ko Sang-joon and Ko Yoon-soo, 1,081 domestic accounts under another person’s name, and stocks under another person’s name that had been hidden by the Woosin Group Strategy Office. In addition, under Ko Sang-joon’s instructions, they obtained the fraudulent accounting ledgers conducted by each affiliate company for the purpose of creating slush funds through the Strategy Office.”

Amidst the sound of keyboard typing, I turned my gaze to the next paragraph.

“In addition to the paper companies established in tax havens, Koh Sang-jun possessed considerable amounts of assets in Korea under false pretenses, which he used for personal purposes or to bribe politicians and government officials. Among them, Yoon Tae-yong, head of the Central Investigation Department of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, Jin Hee-gak, head of the Koo Jin High Prosecutors’ Office, Na Sang-min, floor leader of the Democratic Party, Park Yong-soo, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and Geum Jeong-hwan, head of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office, strongly denied the charges, but through tracking them from various angles, it was confirmed that they met with executives from the Strategy Office at a local golf course and received money and valuables, so we requested arrest warrants.”

As soon as the names of the five high-ranking officials were listed, the reporters began to get agitated.

People who had been expressionless and tired opened their eyes wide, opened their mouths wide, and started typing faster.

He seemed very shocked by the fact that three current high-ranking prosecutors were included.

When I returned to the Southern District Prosecutors’ Office to Song Yeo-seop, I told him that I would not let the Southern District Prosecutors’ Office Chief Prosecutor leave his post, but fortunately, I was able to keep my promise sooner than expected.

“In addition to these, we have identified 18 public officials suspected of receiving bribes worth less than 50 million won, and we plan to investigate them. That is all. I will now take your questions.”

After the briefing was over, the microphone was handed over to the reporter.

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

“doesn’t exist.”

“Are the 18 and 5 people you mentioned, a total of 23 people, excluding the public officials listed in the Fairy Entry Register?”

“Yes.”

“Then, are there any other public officials who received bribes other than these 23?”

“There’s more, including the data validation work in progress.”

“Up until now, Kim Soo-chan and Park Won-ho of the secretarial team have claimed that they instructed the organ trading business without knowing anything about Ko Sang-jun, and that RND, the owner of the Ribbon Medical Center site, is also theirs. Didn’t they change their statements about this?”

“Kim Soo-chan and Park Won-ho have not made any statements that contradict their previous statements. However, considering the investigation so far, we believe that Kim Soo-chan and Park Won-ho’s statements have very low credibility.”

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

It looks like the Q&A will be long.

“There has been no summons for reference regarding the key witness, Kim Mi-ja. Is there no plan to confront Ko Sang-jun?”

“Ms. Kim Mi-ja has given sufficient testimony during her time at the investigation headquarters, but if necessary, additional appearances may be requested. The same applies to cross-examination.”

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

“Whether or not to suspend the execution of the detention is a matter for the court to decide, but when Ko Sang-jun was summoned, he repeatedly answered that he did not remember and that he did not know, even when the evidence was clear, and showed a deceptive attitude. At the same time, it has been confirmed that he systematically concealed and destroyed evidence in preparation for the search and seizure, so it is my opinion that the detention should be maintained.”

Only after another 20 minutes of Q&A was I able to leave the briefing room.

[The weather in Italy is really nice. It was so cold in Korea, but it’s a bit warm here. Haha. I got permission to go to ESTA, so I’m going to stay here a bit longer and then go.]

I entered the room and checked my phone, and there was a message from Kim Chan-young.

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

Then, I guess I can start putting pressure on Kim Soo-chan now.

“Manager.”

“yes.”

“I will summon Kim Soo-chan from the detention center.”

It seems like the special prosecutors are still trying to cover up the situation by claiming that they have not yet found RND and Ko Sang-jun’s overseas accounts.

It would be better to change your mind now before Choi Jong-hyun blows it.

Plus, they’ll tell you where the slush fund ledger is located.