Prosecutors demanded corrective action after police halted an investigation into allegations that former President Yoon Suk-yeol and his spouse bought an expensive cat tower with state funds and then embezzled it.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said on the 13th in a press notice that it had demanded corrective action regarding the judicial police officer's decision to suspend the investigation into allegations that former President Yoon Suk-yeol and his spouse spent residence operation expense on private dinners and the like after impeachment, and took items such as a cat tower purchased with state funds to their private home.
Earlier, the Seocho Police Station in Seoul suspended the investigation on the 12th of last month into the case in which the former president and Kim Keon-hee were accused of embezzlement, theft, and loss of state funds under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. At the time, police were said to have decided to suspend the investigation because the former presidential couple is currently facing multiple trials at the Seoul Central District Court and it was expected that the rulings would take considerable time.
Prosecutors said that after receiving and reviewing the relevant records from the Seocho Police Station and consulting with the station in charge, they determined it would be appropriate to continue the investigation because suspending it until records of related cases being handled by the National Office of Investigation (NOI) are received does not conform to applicable laws and regulations.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency also ordered a reinvestigation to the Seocho Police Station on the 10th, and it is said that it planned to resume the reinvestigation after consulting with prosecutors.
Previously, a civic group filed a complaint in Apr. last year, saying the former president and his spouse transferred to their private home and embezzled and stole items such as a cat tower purchased with state funds even after the removal decision.