The FBI is taking a major step in its ongoing efforts to dismantle corruption and bring justice to the victims of kleptocracy. In a significant development, the U.S. government is seeking to recover over $700,000 in alleged corruption proceeds of former South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan.
The United States is working with the Republic of Korea’s Supreme Prosecutor’s Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office to forfeit these corruption proceeds. The announcement was made by Acting Assistant Attorney General David A. O’Neil of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Assistant Director in Charge Bill L. Lewis of the FBI’s Los Angeles Division and Assistant Director John G. Connolly of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Office of International Affairs.
Acting Assistant Attorney General O’Neil stated, “While serving as Korea’s president, Chun Doo-hwan betrayed the Korean people by taking over $200 million in bribes, some of which his family members then illegally laundered into the United States.”
The alleged corruption proceeds were identified and seized when President Chun’s relatives sold a home in Newport Beach that previously had been purchased with the laundered proceeds of President Chun’s corruption. The $721,951 sought for forfeiture was seized in February 2014.
Chun Doo-hwan, the former president of the Republic of Korea, was convicted in Korea in 1997 of receiving more than $200 million in bribes from Korean businesses and companies. President Chun and his relatives laundered some of these corruption proceeds through a web of nominees and shell companies in both Korea and the United States.
According to the FBI, this case is part of an ongoing effort by the agency to identify and seize illegal assets in the United States obtained by corrupt foreign leaders who use our country as a safe haven to conceal the illicit proceeds of their crimes.
Individuals with information about possible proceeds of foreign corruption located in or laundered through the United States should contact federal law enforcement or send an email to kleptocracy@usdoj.gov.
Defendant: Chun Doo-hwan
Criminal Charges: Receiving over $200 million in bribes
City and State: Newport Beach, California
Exact Date: February 2014
Sentence or Outcome: Seeking to forfeit $721,951 in alleged corruption proceeds
Dollar Amounts: $721,951 in alleged corruption proceeds
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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