Disciplinary Actions Taken Against Prosecutors Involved in Lime Fund Scandal
The Ministry of Justice has disclosed disciplinary actions against prosecutors who received alcohol-related hospitality from Kim Bong-hyun, the former chairman of Star Mobility, a key figure in the Lime Fund scandal. According to the official gazette on May 14, the ministry imposed a one-month suspension and a fine of approximately 3.49 million won on prosecutor Na Ui-yeop from the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office. Prosecutors Yoo Hyo-je and Lim Hong-seok from the Incheon District and Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Offices, respectively, received reprimands and fines of about 660,000 won each. Under the Prosecutor Disciplinary Act, penalties are categorized based on severity, with suspension considered a serious sanction.
The disciplinary measures stem from an incident on July 18, 2019, at a nightclub in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam, where the prosecutors were allegedly entertained by Kim, facilitated by a lawyer with ties to the prosecution. The Ministry of Justice concluded that Na received hospitality valued at 1,163,767 won, while Yoo and Lim each received hospitality worth 664,767 won. Na was present at the venue from 9:30 PM to 1 AM, while Yoo and Lim stayed from 9:30 PM to 10:50 PM. These details were used to calculate the total value of the hospitality received.
The scandal first emerged when Kim revealed the details of the hospitality in an October 2020 letter from prison, claiming he entertained three prosecutors at a room salon in Cheongdam and that one of them later joined the investigation team for the Lime case.
Following this, the prosecution used the total alcohol bill of 5.36 million won paid by Kim to charge Na and others, asserting that they exchanged hospitality worth 1.14 million won each. However, other prosecutors who left the gathering early were not charged as their hospitality amounts were calculated to be below 1 million won. The Anti-Corruption Act prohibits public officials from receiving more than 1 million won in gifts from a single source at one time.
In the trial, Na was acquitted in both the first and second instances as the recognized amount of hospitality was deemed to be under 1 million won. However, in October of last year, the Supreme Court overturned this decision, stating that there was a misunderstanding regarding the legal principles of calculating the hospitality amount.
Additionally, the Ministry of Justice issued a three-month salary reduction to Go Kyung-soon, a research fellow at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, for failing to submit research results on time despite being assigned a project. Go was found to have ignored ten requests for research plans around the submission deadline. Similarly, Lee Jung-hyun, another research fellow, received a one-month suspension for similar reasons. Furthermore, a prosecutor from the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office was suspended for two months for verbally abusing and physically confronting a police officer while intoxicated in April of last year.
