Police Officers Tried Over Cover-Up of Broadcaster Yang Jung-won's Fraud Case

Former and current police officers accused of taking bribes to sweep a fraud case involving former Pilates instructor and broadcaster Yang Jung-won under the rug have been indicted.

The Joint Investigation Division on Financial and Securities Crimes at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (led by Senior Prosecutor Shin Dong-hwan) announced today (August 20) that it has detained and indicted Inspector Song, the former head of the investigation team at the Gangnam Police Station, on charges of accepting bribes, abuse of power, and leakage of official secrets. Authorities also indicted Superintendent Lee of the Korean National Police Agency without detention on charges of brokering bribes.

Both officers have currently been suspended from their duties.

Prosecutors revealed transcript contents showing that Yang's husband, surnamed Lee, asked Inspector Song—who was connected through Superintendent Lee—to resolve the case, subsequently receiving investigative information and providing entertainment at a hostess bar.

In several phone calls with Yang's husband, Inspector Song remarked, "(Your wife's case) will wrap up nicely next week," and, "I've already decided not to send it to prosecutors, so I told them to finish it quickly."

In response, Yang's husband replied, "Ah, my wife's case?" and "Thank you, brother. Let's have a meal together next week."

It was confirmed that Inspector Song arbitrarily changed Yang Jung-won's status from a suspect registered in the computer system due to fraud charges to a "reference witness," thereby excluding her from the scope of the investigation.

Under the Criminal Procedure Act, a complainant can file an objection upon receiving a non-indictment decision, but a reference witness is not eligible to receive such a notice or file an objection.

Prosecutors explained, "The victim was even stripped of the right to file an objection against the decision not to transfer the case."

The investigation found that Inspector Song and Superintendent Lee told Yang's husband, "We personally escorted her during the questioning and shifted her status from a suspect to a reference witness, paying close attention to the matter."

Authorities determined that the officers received luxury items including a designer scarf and millions of won worth of entertainment at an adult entertainment establishment from Yang's husband as a reward for hushing up the case and in exchange for soliciting favors regarding additional cases.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.