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South Korean court impounds former president's properties |
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May 23, 2000
SEOUL, MAY 22 (AP) - Prosecutors trying to collect fines imposed on former President Chun Doo-hwan for corruption have impounded his ski membership and 1984 Mercedes Benz, officials said Monday.
It was the first government move to collect dlrs 158 million the ex-president has yet to pay in fines.
Chun, who stepped down in early 1988 at the of a single five-year term, was arrested in 1995 on bribery charges. He was later fined dlrs 184 million, the amount he was found guilty of receiving as bribes from businessmen while in office.
Prosecutors so far have collected dlrs 26 million from Chun. They have till May 2003 to collect the rest. Prosecutors said Chun's impounded properties - estimated at dlrs 204,000 - will be put at auction. No auction date has been set.
Prosecutors said they were expanding their search for Chun's wealth, which they suspect might be concealed in bonds or other financial certificates.
Chun acknowledged in court that he had received dlrs 184 million in bribes from 26 businessmen during his 1983-1988 term but did not disclose where the money was kept. He denied that he had the money in concealment.
Chun was also convicted of treason in connection with a 1980 pro-democracy civil uprising in the southern city of Kwangju. He ordered the ruthless suppression of the uprising, resulting in heavy casualties.
By official count, more than 200 people were killed and 1,800 others injured or wounded in the nine-day uprising, the bloodiest in modern South Korean history.
Chun was found guilty of being involved in the Kwangju bloodbath and sentenced to death. The death penalty was later commuted to life. He was set free in late 1997 in a special government amnesty. |