A special judicial police (special investigators) team leader at the Korea Customs Service has been brought to trial on charges of taking bribes worth hundreds of millions of won and granting favors in return, including releasing a suspect who had been detained.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 (Director General Lee Sang-hyeok) said on the 21st that it indicted A, 49, a former special investigators team leader at the Seoul Customs under the Korea Customs Service, on charges of bribery and receiving bribes under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.
According to prosecutors, A is accused of abusing special investigator authority to demand bribes from B, who was urgently arrested on suspicion of smuggling cocaine, and from B's father, saying the investigation would proceed without detention, and of taking 50 million won. In fact, A released B, and was found to have received a total of 145 million won from five people, including drug smugglers and violators of the Customs Act. A is said to have committed the crimes to raise funds for cryptocurrency investments.
A's crimes were planned and meticulous. First, A conducted searches and seizures of the residences and offices of suspects in the assigned cases. Through this, A identified targets' occupations, family relations, and financial means. After that, A warned suspects about the seriousness of the cases, intimidated them by suggesting they could be detained or face heavy fines, and then openly demanded bribes.
For example, A was found to have made statements to suspects in assigned cases such as "Drug smuggling is a serious crime that warrants detention, but I will make sure you are not detained," "I will make sure your spouse, a university professor, is not booked," and "If you give me cash, I will just end the case outright with that money."
At first, the Korea Customs Service filed a complaint against A last Aug. for simple bribery. But prosecutors, citing the seriousness of the crimes and the risk of recidivism, launched a direct investigation. As a result, they uncovered additional instances in which A took bribes. Prosecutors said this came from efforts to uncover further crimes, including applying for search and seizure warrants five times and tracing financial accounts.
Prosecutors said, "It was confirmed in the course of investigating this case that special investigators arbitrarily exercised investigative authority, including initiating and closing cases and conducting compulsory investigations," adding, "As the Public Prosecution Office Act recently passed, judicial oversight over special investigators is expected to weaken, so sufficient discussion and review are needed in the process of designing the system going forward."