(LEAD) Ruling party official's house raided over alleged bribery

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SEOUL, May 29 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors raided the home of a ruling Saenuri Party official on Friday in an ongoing investigation into allegations that a deceased businessman provided illegal political funds to the party during the 2012 presidential election.

The special prosecution team probing the case said it has seized documents and computer discs from the residence of the official, identified only by his surname Kim, to corroborate a suspected "bribery list" left behind by Sung Wan-jong, who committed suicide in April.

One of the allegations was that Kim received 200 million won (US$180,000) prior to the election from Sung, the late chairman of construction firm Keangnam Enterprises Inc.

Kim was the chief co-spokesperson for President Park Geun-hye, Saenuri's presidential candidate at the time.

The memo retrieved from Sung's pocket after he was found dead showed sums of money written next to the names of a number of high-profile politicians, suggesting that they were bribed. The eight politicians in the memo include President Park's former and current chiefs of staff.

The prosecution earlier said it will soon indict former Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo and Hong Joon-pyo, governor of South Gyeongsang Province, on charges of violating the law governing illegal political funds.

Prosecutors said they sent out documents on Friday to seek answers from six people in the memo, including Hong Moon-jong, a ruling party lawmaker who had been in a key post in the Park camp, as well as Yoo Jeong-bok and Seo Byung-soo, the current mayors of Incheon and Busan.

Prosecutors, however, said that they have not discovered Sung's secret accounting book that reportedly details to whom and when he had given the kickbacks.

Sung's close aide earlier testified that Keangnam Enterprises officials had concealed the ledger to avoid the prosecution's probe.

khj@yna.co.kr
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