Police said they have finished questioning 15 people over allegations that Yoo Seong-min, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC), received sponsorship incentive payments under a borrowed name.
An official at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said at a regular press briefing on the 3rd, "We received a total of three complaints and finished questioning 15 related individuals."
The Financial Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has booked Yoo on suspicion of breach of duty and is investigating. Police said the younger brother, identified only as A, of the head of Yoo's agency at the time received a total of a little over 200 million won in incentives from the Korea Table Tennis Association, and they are reportedly looking into whether Yoo took the incentives under A's name.
Earlier, on July 7, civic groups including Citizens' Solidarity for Sports and Cultural Solidarity filed a complaint with police over the alleged illegal payment of sponsorship kickbacks that occurred during Yoo's tenure as president of the Korea Table Tennis Association.
Meanwhile, the Yongin Seobu Police Station in Gyeonggi, which investigated the allegation that sponsorship incentives were received under a borrowed name during Yoo's tenure as president of the Korea Table Tennis Association, recently decided not to refer the case for indictment on charges including dereliction of duty, aiding and abetting breach of duty, and aiding and abetting embezzlement in the course of duty.
Regarding the "loss of banded bundles of cash" allegation being investigated by the standing special prosecutor, police said, "A complaint was filed for violating the Act on Testimony and Appraisal before the National Assembly and for dereliction of duty, and we think we need to watch a bit longer." A police official said no suspect summons had been conducted in connection with the alleged loss of the banded bundles of cash, adding, "Separate from the standing special prosecutor, we are conducting our own investigation."
A police official said that in relation to Kim Se-eui, head of the YouTube channel Garosero Research Institute, they received 21 complaints and reports, and assigned 16 of them to a special investigation team. The official said, "It seems there were areas we did not manage thoroughly, so we designated a special investigation team and consolidated the cases in one place," adding, "We expect the pace to pick up going forward."
Previously, Eun Hyeon-jang, who runs the YouTube channel "Master of Business," appeared at the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee audit and said, "There are 16 to 20 cases related to Kim piled up at the Gangnam Police Station, but those cases are not actually progressing."