Seoul, Aug 8 (IANS) A South Korean special counsel team has accused former first lady Kim Keon Hee of colluding with a shaman over bribery allegations in connection to the Unification Church, according to a warrant for her arrest Friday.
Special counsel Min Joong-ki’s team made the accusation in the warrant filed Thursday, detailing that Kim worked with the shaman, named Jeon Seong-bae, to receive luxury gifts, including a diamond necklace, from the church in 2022.
The former first lady has denied receiving the gifts in return for business favours, while Jeon has admitted to accepting them but denied sending them to Kim.
The team also characterised Kim as a “conspirator” in a stock price manipulation scheme involving Deutsche Motors, a BMW dealer in South Korea, from 2009 to 2012 rather than a mere accomplice, according to the warrant seen by Yonhap News Agency.
Kim also faces allegations of meddling in a candidate nomination for the 2022 parliamentary by-elections in return for receiving free opinion polls from self-proclaimed power broker Myung Tae-kyun ahead of the presidential election that year.
Meanwhile, an aide to the leader of the Unification Church appeared before the special counsel team Friday to be questioned about her role in the alleged bribery case involving the former first lady.
The woman surnamed Jeong was summoned as a suspect by Min’s team to be grilled about the allegations the Unification Church asked Jeon, the shaman, to deliver luxury gifts to Kim in 2022 in exchange for business favours.
Jeong serves as chief of staff to Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja and deputy head of the church’s top administrative body, Yonhap news agency reported.
The business favours allegedly included support for the church’s participation in development projects in Cambodia, its acquisition of broadcaster YTN, and South Korea’s hosting of a United Nations office.
–IANS
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