South Korean prosecutors may summon Roh again<\/p>\n
SEOUL (Reuter): State prosecutors said yesterday they were
\nconsidering summoning disgraced ex-president Roh Tae-woo again
\nafter questioning heads of South Korea's top business
\nconglomerates over his US$654 million slush fund.<\/p>\n
\"Former president Roh Tae-woo can be resummoned for more
\nquestioning,\" senior prosecutor Ahn Kang-min told reporters.<\/p>\n
Local media and many political commentators have speculated
\nthat summoning Roh again would be a prelude to his arrest. This
\nwould make him the first South Korean head of state, serving or
\nretired, to face criminal action.<\/p>\n
The economic daily Maeil Kyungje quoted government sources as
\nsaying Roh would be arrested on Nov. 20.<\/p>\n
Ahn, who is leading the inquiry into the slush fund scandal,
\nsaid the prosecution had not decided whether Roh would be
\nsummoned again.<\/p>\n
Late last month Roh, 62, tearfully confessed that he amassed
\n$654 million during his 1988-1993 term in office through
\ndonations from big business conglomerates.<\/p>\n
When Roh was summoned for the first time last week, he told
\nprosecutors that he either could not reveal or did not remember
\nhow he amassed and concealed the slush fund.<\/p>\n
Ahn said yesterday the prosecutors ordered five more business
\nmoguls, including the chairmen of Sunkyong Kia and Kumho groups,
\nto appear before them to find out if they offered money to Roh as
\nkickbacks for lucrative state projects.<\/p>\n
Sunkyong head Chey Jong-hyun is Roh's relative by marriage.<\/p>\n
Ahn said the chairman of the giant Daewoo Group which is
\nalleged to have helped Roh convert some $39 million in his false-
\nname bank accounts into real-name accounts, would be called in
\ntomorrow or Monday.<\/p>\n
He said Dong Bang Group chairman Shin Myoung-soo, whose
\ndaughter is married to Roh's son, left the prosecutors' office
\nyesterday morning after being grilled for more than 48 hours over
\nallegations that he and Roh were partners in property
\nspeculation.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors suspect that Roh bought two luxury office
\nbuildings in Seoul under the names of two of the Dong Bang Group
\nsubsidiaries. Ahn said Roh was also suspected of buying another
\nbuilding in the capital.<\/p>\n
Roh has said he kept $242 million when he left the
\npresidential Blue House. Prosecutors were trying to find out
\nwhether the money was used for real estate speculation.<\/p>\n
They are particularly interested to know how Roh's relatives
\nwere involved and whether they helped him siphon off money to
\nsecret bank accounts in Switzerland, Ahn said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/south-korean-prosecutors-may-summon-roh-again-1447893297",
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