Officials from the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) have been indicted on charges of distorting and fabricating evidence to cover up the BAI audit regarding suspicions surrounding the relocation of the presidential residence during the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

The 2nd Comprehensive Special Counsel Team, led by Special Prosecutor Kwon Chang-young, announced in a press release today (the 19th) that it has indicted two BAI officials, identified by their surnames Choi (former Director General for Public Administration and Safety Audit) and Son (former Division 1 Director of the Public Administration and Safety Audit Bureau), without detention.

Choi has been charged with abuse of authority and obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means, while Son faces charges of divulging official secrets, dereliction of duty, creation and uttering of false official documents, and obstruction of official duties by fraudulent means.

Previously, the Audit Commission deliberated on the results of the presidential residence relocation audit on May 10, 2024, but withheld its resolution. The commission deemed the investigation insufficient regarding suspicions that 21gram, an interior design company, had virtually managed the entire residence construction project.

The Special Counsel team believes that even after the decision to withhold, Choi and others distorted relevant evidence and statements and obstructed the judgment of the audit commissioners in order to maintain the existing audit conclusion.

In particular, investigators found that in June of that year, Choi instructed that a violation by 21gram—specifically that registration is required upon contracting under the Framework Act on the Construction Industry—be omitted from the audit report.

Son was found to have distorted evidence by drafting interview records and confirmation statements containing content different from the actual statements made by the representative and site manager of 21gram in July of the same year, and uploading them to the electronic audit system.

The two are also accused of obstructing the official duties of the Audit Commission by subsequently providing distorted statements and inaccurate audit reports to the audit commissioners.

Following the Audit Commission's decision to withhold, the Chairman of the BAI instructed them to "resolve the suspicion of whether 21gram entirely managed the presidential residence construction" through face-to-face interviews with relevant parties.

However, investigations revealed that to maintain their original conclusion, they induced those subject to the audit to coordinate their testimonies and recorded distorted statements in the interview records and confirmation statements of 21gram's representative and site manager.

The Special Counsel team stated that it also uncovered circumstances in which they continuously monitored the assignment status of the reporting audit commissioner and adjusted the approval sequence to manipulate the process so that their preferred audit commissioner would be assigned to the case.

Son is additionally accused of divulging official secrets in April 2023 by sending a written questionnaire to the representative of 21gram under the instructions of Yoo Byung-ho. The questionnaire allegedly contained official secrets, such as evidence secured by the audit team, its contents, and the audit team's judgments.

In November of the same year, Son was also found to have divulged internal reporting results by delivering a document excerpted from the onsite audit conclusion report to an official dispatched to the Office of the President.

Working-level BAI staff and officials dispatched to the Office of the President who participated in the offenses under the directives of these two individuals during the cover-up of the residence audit were granted non-prosecution dispositions, such as suspension of indictment.

The Special Counsel team stated, "We plan to notify the Board of Audit and Inspection of areas for improvement within the BAI's internal system identified during the course of the investigation."

(Photo: Yonhap News)