A police officer accused of taking money and smoothing over influencer Yang Jeong-won's fraud case has been arrested.
On the 5th, the Seoul Southern District Court issued an arrest warrant for Captain Song, who is accused of taking bribes, among other charges.
Song, who was serving as Head of Team of the first investigations division at the Gangnam Police Station, is accused of taking bribes from a wealthy person surnamed Lee, who was under investigation on suspicion of stock price manipulation, and quashing the investigation related to a fraud case involving Lee's wife, Yang.
Around July 2024, franchise owners of a Pilates academy for which Yang was an advertising model filed a complaint accusing Yang and officials at the Pilates academy headquarters of fraud, among other charges. However, in December the same year, police decided not to refer the case to prosecutors, citing "no suspicion."
Earlier, in Apr., prosecutors requested an arrest warrant for Song, but the court dismissed the request, saying, "There is a dispute over whether the entertainment or money constitutes a bribe, and it is necessary to guarantee the right to defense."
However, prosecutors additionally detected indications that Song quashed the investigation and refiled the arrest warrant request on the 31st of last month.