Lee Sang-min's 'bundles of 50,000 won bills' found at former minister's residence… controversy over asset declaration
Reports have emerged that large sums of money in high denomination bills were discovered during a search of the residence of former Minister of the Interior and Safety Lee Sang-min, causing a stir in the political arena.
On the 4th, Kim Jong-hyuk, a former supreme committee member of the People Power Party, appeared on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' and expressed strong concerns, stating, "If such bundles of money were found at the home of an influential person in the (Yoon Seok-youl) government, this is truly shocking news."
In particular, the controversy centers around the fact that the former minister declared his cash holdings as '0 won' in his official asset report.
According to reports by JTBC and KBS on the 3rd, the police's special investigation unit uncovered 8 to 9 high-end luxury bags, including a Hermès bag filled with bundles of 50,000 won bills, during a search of Lee's residence in February.
Some of the bags were reportedly in new condition, with brand labels still intact. KBS estimated the amount of cash found to be in the hundreds of millions of won.
Allegations of undisclosed cash sources and asset declaration omissions
The special investigation team into the internal rebellion is said to have confirmed these facts during their investigation of police investigators who participated in the search of Lee's residence.
However, it has not been confirmed whether the police secured evidence regarding the bags and the cash.
The most notable aspect of this case is the source of the cash.
An examination of Lee's asset report published in the official gazette on March 21 shows that there were no declared cash holdings at all.
At that time, Lee reported deposits in his name amounting to 932 million won and 100 million won in his spouse's name, but all of these were funds deposited in financial institutions.
If Lee possessed cash separately and did not declare it, this could constitute a violation of the Public Officials Ethics Act.
Possibility of lawyer's fees and Lee Sang-min's rebuttal
In the political arena, there are suggestions that Lee may have stored cash received as legal fees while he was practicing law at home.
Yang Bu-nam, a member of the Democratic Party and a former prosecutor, appeared on the YouTube program 'Kim Eo-jun's Humility is Hard News Factory' that day and stated, "It's not necessarily the case, but when lawyers take on cases, it’s common for them to receive cash." He added, "That money could be stored."
If this cash is indeed legal fees, the matter of whether taxes were paid could also become another issue.
Meanwhile, Lee and his attorney are denying the very fact of holding cash. Lee strongly refuted the claims in a phone call with JTBC, stating, "There is no basis for this, it does not match the facts at all, and it doesn't make sense," adding, "I will not respond to inquiries based on baseless claims."
Image source: Lee Sang-min, former Minister of the Interior and Safety / News1, unrelated reference photo / gettyimagesbank, News1
