South Korean prosecutors 'raid' banks linked to Choi Soon-sil

(Baonghean.vn) - After arresting President Park Geun-hye's close friend, Choi Soon-sil, prosecutors began searching four banks that held financial transaction information related to Choi.

Choi Soon-sil, a close friend of President Park Geun-hye, cried when she was arrested at the Seoul prosecutor's office.

Choi Soon-sil is the daughter of a cult leader in South Korea and has had a close relationship with President Park for decades. She is accused of using this relationship to establish two non-profit organizations for illegal profit.

In addition, she is also said to have regularly viewed confidential government documents and used her influence to receive preferential loans from domestic banks and other financial transactions.

Hours after Choi's arrest, prosecutors raided the headquarters of four banks involved, Woori Bank, Standard Chartered Bank Korea, Shinhan Bank and KB Bank, to freeze and confiscate documents related to the suspect's personal financial transactions.

According to authorities, Ms. Choi is alleged to have used the same piece of land in PyeongChang, in eastern Gangwon Province, to borrow 500 million won (about 9.74 billion VND) from KB Bank and 250 thousand euros (about 6.09 billion VND) from KEB Hana Bank in late 2015, right before she moved to Europe.

Investigators are also seeking financial documents from Cha Eun-taek, a prominent advertising executive and close aide to Ms. Choi, who is suspected of interfering in government cultural projects.

Previously, Ms. Choi Soon-sil, a close friend of President Park, was urgently arrested late yesterday, immediately after returning from Germany.

Quan Le

(According to Yonhap)