The prosecution, which is investigating the 'Suspicion of Seongnam FC donation', is expected to focus on three main questions in the summons investigation of Lee Jae-myung, the head of the Democratic Party, who is at the peak of this suspicion today (10th).
In order for CEO Lee to be charged with bribery to a third party, it must be proven that there was an improper solicitation for a public official's job and that there was a payment for it.
The Seongnam FC donation suspicion is that while CEO Lee was the owner of Seongnam FC when he was the mayor of Seongnam, he attracted 17 billion won in donations from companies such as Naver, Doosan Construction, and Cha Hospital from 2016 to 2018, and received building permits or land use changes for these companies. It's about providing convenience.
Representative Lee is accused of bribery to a third party after being accused of this allegation by the Bareun Mirae Party and others in 2018.
The prosecution is said to have reviewed and analyzed all Supreme Court precedents related to bribery to third parties ahead of the summons of Lee.
According to the Supreme Court precedent, 'unjust solicitation' must be proven in order for the charge of bribery to a third party to be admitted.
In particular, the Supreme Court's judgment is that even if the contents of the solicitation are not illegal or unreasonable, if 'compensation' has been exchanged, it constitutes an improper solicitation.
Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin was indicted for providing 7 billion won to the K-Sports Foundation in return for requesting a duty-free shop license from former President Park Geun-hye in the government scandal, and was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison with a 4-year probation. That's it.
The court judged that the support of 7 billion won to the K-Sports Foundation in return for improper solicitation of a duty-free shop patent amounted to bribery to a third party.
Looking at the indictment of Mr. A, the former CEO of Doosan Engineering & Construction, whom the prosecution first prosecuted for this suspicion on September 30 last year, the prosecution found that CEO Lee met companies with pending issues for his political gain and provided various conveniences in exchange for donations. I see it as
In fact, the prosecution listed CEO Lee as an 'accomplice' in the Seongnam FC donation suspicion case in the indictment of Mr. A at the time.
In the case of Doosan Construction, the prosecution said that Naver received donations in exchange for resolving civil complaints, such as raising the floor area ratio of its second office building and installing direct access to and from the Bundang Suseo Expressway, citing the preferential treatment of Doosan Construction for changing the use of 3,000 pyeong of the Jeongja-dong Hospital site in Bundang-gu to commercial land. is considered to have paid.
Cha Hospital also had pending issues such as raising the floor area ratio among the plans to promote the creation of medical facilities.
The prosecution's point of view is that companies make different 'unjust solicitations' and donate money to Seongnam FC, a 'third party', as a 'compensation'.
From 2016 to 2018, Doosan E&C paid 5 billion won, Naver 3.9 billion won, and Cha Hospital paid 3.3 billion won to Seongnam FC.
After this period, these companies are known to no longer sponsor Seongnam FC.
In the course of the investigation, the prosecution is known to have secured a statement from a company official to the effect that 'there was a request for donations from the city' and evidence to support it.
In this representative investigation, the prosecution is expected to present these statements and evidence and intensively investigate the circumstances of the fundraising.
The prosecution is expected to focus on finding out whether Lee was aware of the process of exchange of money for such illicit solicitation or, furthermore, was directly involved.
Attorney Seon-Woo Kwak, a former representative of Seongnam FC, stated in a prosecutor's investigation last year that "Mayor Lee ordered 'to discuss everything with Chief Jeong Jin-sang (then Seongnam City Policy Director) who knows football well and make a decision."
Attorney Kwak said, "I don't know at all about the process of attracting donations. Chief Jung and the marketing director at the time did everything."
In the end, the prosecution's judgment is that former chief Jeong led the fundraising for Seongnam FC at the direction of CEO Lee.
In addition, the prosecution is said to be closely looking into how Seongnam FC paid excessive bonuses to employees who were in charge of donations at the time.
Representative Lee, who was with lawyer Park Gyun-taek, a former chief of the Gwangju High Prosecutor's Office, is expected to refute the prosecution's claims piece by piece.
First of all, CEO Lee's position is that the money paid by the company is not a donation, but an advertising fee according to an advertising contract.
Around 2015, Seongnam FC advanced to the Asian Cup by winning the FA Cup, ranked in the middle of the 1st division of professional football, and ranked first in the number of spectators among civil teams, and advertising expenses were added.
In addition, the change of use of Doosan Group's hospital site was a lawful and just administration for the public good, such as securing tax revenue for the city, securing jobs in the local community, and revitalizing commercial districts, as companies were attracted to a site that had been neglected as a disgrace for nearly 20 years and some of the profits were returned. It is known that the claim will be made.
Above all, it seems that CEO Lee, as the mayor of Seongnam, has never requested advertisements from companies in exchange for administration, and is expected to reiterate that he has never been involved in the advertising business of the club.
On the other hand, the prevailing view is that the prosecution will complete the summons investigation of Lee, if possible, this time.
In the midst of this, it is predicted that the prosecution will review the request for an arrest warrant for Lee in the future and decide whether to prosecute at the latest this month.