Alleged 80 Billion Won Nominee-Fund Network Linked to Former Power Broker Resurfaces

Allegations that former lawmaker Park Cheol-eon and his wife managed about 80 billion won in hidden funds have returned to public view. Park’s brother-in-law, Hyun Tae-geol, says Park controlled roughly 57 billion won and his wife, former lawmaker Hyun Kyung-ja, controlled about 22.9 billion won through accounts registered to relatives and associates.

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I personally brought out copies of notes on the slush funds written by Park in his own hand after receiving tips from his former aides.

Hyun presented more than 20 copies of handwritten notes that he said Park had written. Taken together with his explanation, the notes point to about 180 accounts under the names of roughly 60 people for Park and about 130 accounts under the names of 20 people for his wife. Most of the account holders linked to the wife were members of Hyun’s family.

Hyun said he had worked as an errand runner and aide for the couple. He alleged that he collected identification cards from his in-laws and delivered them to his sister, without receiving compensation. The accounts linked to Park were concentrated in bank branches in areas including Songpa, Gangnam, Yongin and Eunpyeong. Hyun also pointed to accounts opened in relatives’ names on the same days that other accounts expired, and to repeated deposits of about 50 million won.

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I collected the identification cards of my parents-in-law and other members of my wife’s family and delivered them directly to my sister, but I received no compensation.

A former parliamentary aide, who said he managed about 12 billion won for Park in the 1990s, described a system in which trusted people lent their names and accounts were opened in different regions. He said the identities of the account holders were carefully concealed from bank managers. Hyun claimed the money came partly from funds Roh Tae-woo had entrusted to Park for operating the pro-Roh Wolgyeesuhoe group and financing an election campaign after a proposed midterm evaluation was abandoned.

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The method was to borrow the names of trustworthy people as fund managers and visit different regions to open accounts.

The renewed allegations have drawn attention because prosecutors recently began a forced investigation into suspected concealment of Roh family slush funds, including the 30 billion won alleged in the divorce case between SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Roh So-young. Park has previously denied holding nominee accounts and called earlier accusations entirely false. Legal experts cited the usual five-year retention period for bank transaction records and a 2016 decision not to indict Park and his wife, saying a new investigation would be unlikely.

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There are no nominee accounts now, and everything Kim said is untrue.