Ex-Gangnam police investigation chief indicted for burying cases, taking bribes including luxury gifts and room-salon entertainment

A former investigation chief at the Gangnam Police Station has been indicted on charges of accepting bribes and suppressing cases after allegedly taking cash, luxury goods and entertainment from a stock-price manipulator and the husband of a well-known social media influencer. Prosecutors said they uncovered the corruption while investigating stock manipulation crimes.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office's joint financial and securities crimes investigation unit, led by chief prosecutor Shin Dong-hwan, announced Thursday that it had indicted Senior Inspector Song, the former investigation chief at the Gangnam Police Station, on charges including bribery and abuse of authority. Prosecutors also filed charges without detention against a Korean National Police Agency officer who received entertainment alongside Song, and against the individual who provided Song with the bribes.

According to prosecutors, around December 2024, while serving as investigation chief at the Gangnam Police Station, Song allegedly received a request to suppress a fraud case involving Yang Jeong-won, a prominent online influencer. He then arbitrarily changed Yang's status in the police database from suspect to witness, effectively removing her from the scope of the investigation.

Yang had been reported to police in July 2024 by franchisees of her Pilates hagwon chain on fraud and other charges. In December of that year, police closed the case without referral to prosecutors, finding no grounds for charges.

Prosecutors believe Song acted after receiving a call from a Korean National Police Agency officer acquainted with Lee — Yang's husband and a wealthy businessman then under investigation on suspicion of stock price manipulation.

After suppressing the case, Song allegedly passed along details of the police investigation to Lee. He then received luxury items including a designer scarf from Lee as a show of gratitude and in connection with additional case-fixing requests, and was treated to entertainment worth several million won at a room salon.

Prosecutors said that by reclassifying Yang as a witness rather than a suspect, she also lost the right to appeal the decision not to refer her case to prosecutors. Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, a complainant may appeal a decision not to refer a suspect's case, but that right does not apply when the person has been designated a witness.

During the investigation, prosecutors found additional evidence that Song had intervened in multiple cases beyond the Yang matter, accepting cash and entertainment in exchange for case-fixing.

In one instance, Song allegedly received a request to manage a fraud case involving a person identified as D — an associate of Yang's husband Lee in the alleged stock manipulation scheme — and provided assistance by checking and leaking investigation details.

That case was closed without referral to prosecutors on grounds of insufficient evidence roughly two months after the complaint was filed. Song is said to have received entertainment at a room salon one week after D was questioned by police, with D footing the bill.

Song also faces charges of accepting bribes from a fraud suspect who had been flagged for overseas travel. Prosecutors say Song visited the suspect in hospital the day after questioning him at the police station, had the suspect pay for a meal and accepted cash, then personally closed the case without referral about two months later.

Song is further alleged to have traveled abroad to where the suspect was living after the case was closed and received $3,000 in cash on two separate occasions, described as spending money.

He also faces charges of accepting gift cards from a cryptocurrency and multi-level marketing operator in exchange for favorable treatment. Song allegedly met the individual — who had more than 10 active cases at the Gangnam Police Station — through a broker, and received 2 million won worth of department store gift cards on two occasions.

After receiving the gift cards, Song allegedly had lunch with the operator on the day of the latter's police questioning, then summoned a junior officer and pressured him to close the cases quickly. That case, too, was closed without referral roughly two months after the complaint was filed.

Prosecutors also found evidence that when Song's receipt of the gift cards came to light, he fabricated a false account to conceal the identity of the person who gave them, and encouraged individuals unrelated to the case to pose as stand-in witnesses and give false statements to prosecutors.

Prosecutors believe Song received cash, gifts and entertainment totaling about 8 million won across six instances between August 2023 and February this year, from three individuals connected to cases under investigation at the Gangnam Police Station, in exchange for suppressing cases and other favors.

"It is a grave crime for a police officer engaged in investigative work to collude with criminals and accept bribes or entertainment — it paralyzes the criminal justice system's core function of uncovering the truth and protecting the public," a prosecutor said.