Prosecution Summons Former Hana Bank President in 'Gwak Sang-do 5 Billion Club' Case

The prosecution investigating former People Power Party lawmaker Kwak Sang-do's '5 billion won bribery suspicion' has summoned the Hana Bank president at the time of the Daejang-dong project consortium.

According to the legal community on the 20th, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 3 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kang Baek-shin) summoned Kim Byung-ho, chairman of Vietnam HD Bank, as a witness and questioned him.

Chairman Kim was the Hana Bank president in 2015 when Hana Bank formed the 'Daejang-dong team' and the Seongnam E Tteul consortium, and from September 2015, after the merger of Hana Bank and Korea Exchange Bank into KEB Hana Bank, he served as vice chairman of Hana Financial Group.

The prosecution is known to have questioned Chairman Kim about whether there was a real 'Seongnam E Tteul defection crisis' at Hana Bank, the decision-making process within Hana Financial Group at the time, and whether former lawmaker Kwak exerted any influence.

The prosecution believes that when the Seongnam E Tteul consortium, which included Hana Bank and the Daejang-dong team, faced the risk of collapse over the selection of the Daejang-dong development project operator, Kim Man-bae, the major shareholder of Hwacheon Daeyu Asset Management, asked former lawmaker Kwak to exert influence on Hana Bank to prevent the consortium's collapse, and in return, paid former lawmaker Kwak 5 billion won (2.5 billion won after tax) as severance pay for his son.

The first trial of former lawmaker Kwak's case stated, "It is reasonable to see that Hoban Construction Chairman Kim Sang-yeol proposed to former Hana Financial Group Chairman Kim Jung-tae to combine the Korea Development Bank and Hana Bank into one consortium and allow Seongnam Urban Development Corporation to provide a small profit so that the consortium could gain more profit."

However, it also stated, "It is difficult to conclude that there was a defection crisis of Hana Bank's consortium, and it is difficult to see that former lawmaker Kwak actually exerted influence on Hana Financial Group," and acquitted former lawmaker Kwak of charges of mediation and bribery.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.