Probe into illegal loans fails to yield evidence

The Public Prosecutor¡¯s Office, which has been investigating illegal loans of massive amounts of money at Hanvit Bank, has been focusing on finding out whether there was any external pressure in the loan process and where the loans were spent, but has yet to find any clear evidence.

The question of external pressure:

On Thursday, the Investigation Department of the Seoul District Prosecutor¡¯s Office summoned Park Hyun-Ryong (Age 40), the younger brother of Park Hye-Ryong (Age 47, imprisoned), president of a construction material importing firm called "Arc World,¡± for the second time and conducted an intense probe into whether there was any external pressures or requests regarding the loans.

The Prosecutor¡¯s Office secured the testimony of Shin Chang-Seop (Age 48, imprisoned) former manager of Hanvit Bank`s Gwanak branch office, who stated Hyun-Ryong introduced himself as a director at the Chong Wa Dae last June and received a loan of 30 million won. After he obtained the money, he stated that the loan case was part of his elder brother`s business and asked for favored processing, Shin said.

Even before the illegal loan process began in February, Park already owed 15 billion won to this bank.

Where the loans were used:

The Prosecutor¡¯s Office called in two persons on this day, including a Mr. Yoo. Yoo is a large shareholder of the company P, a venture capital firm where Hyun-Ryong serves as vice president. The office is investigating whether the money illegally loaned by Hye-Ryong went into the establishment and management process of the company.

Also on this day, the Prosecutor¡¯s Office arrested Min Paik-Hong, president of Ace Tech, on charges of having received illegal loans worth 29.8 billion won out of the total 46.3 billion won illegally loaned. The Prosecutors Office secured testimony that Min gave Hye-Ryong 10 billion won of the total, and believes that Hye-Ryong spent an additional 6 billion won loaned by a Mr. Lee, president of real estate development firm R., for a total of 29 billion won. The office is in the process of confirming where this money has been spent.

Lee Myoung-Gun gun43@donga.com