Jeon Seong-bae, known as "Geonjin," appeared before the permanent special counsel as a reference witness in the probe into allegations over the loss of a Bank of Korea band from bundled notes.
The permanent special counsel said it summoned Jeon, who is being held at the Seoul Detention Center, as a reference witness to its office in Seocho-gu, Seoul, at 10 a.m. on the 19th.
Earlier, while the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office was investigating allegations that Jeon meddled in party nominations and other matters, it carried out a search and seizure of Jeon in Dec. 2024 and was said to have found a bundle of Bank of Korea notes worth 50 million won. After it was confirmed that the band and plastic that had tied the bundle were discarded, suspicions were raised that prosecutors intentionally destroyed key evidence. This led to the launch of the permanent special counsel, which is said to plan to investigate the source of the bundled notes and how they were stored.
Jeon was indicted and detained last September on charges of receiving valuables worth 80 million won after receiving requests for support for the religious group from former Unification Church world headquarters chief Yoon Young-ho.