Korean businessman bribed Nazarbayev
International press about a $10 mln bribe scandal

South Korean tycoon alleges bribes were given to Kazakstan's president
By SOO-JEONG LEE Associated Press Writer

11/05/2001 Associated Press Newswires

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - A South Korean business tycoon testified in court that he ordered a subordinate to give dlrs 10 million in bribes to Kazakstan's president to facilitate business in the former Soviet republic, officials said Monday.

Choi Soon-young, former chairman of Shindongah group and Korea Life Insurance Co., made the allegation before a Seoul appeals court on Oct. 26, said his lawyer, Hwang Sang-hyun.

The high court was reviewing a lower court ruling in 1999 that had found Choi guilty of fraud and capital flight out of the country and sentenced him to five years in prison and fined him dlrs 165 million.

During the hearing, Choi was grilled by prosecutors to account for details of the money he allegedly diverted overseas. The hearing was open to the public, but details were not known until the local press reported them.

Choi told the court that he authorized giving dlrs 10 million to Kazakstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev in 1996 at the suggestion of Kim Jong-eun, who headed Shindongah's trading subsidiary, the lawyer said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Judge Kim Young-hae confirmed the contents of Choi's testimony as reported by his lawyer.

The lawyer quoted his client as testifying that he believed the bribe would help Shindongah's newly started diamond processing and other planned business in Kazakstan.

Choi told the court that he instructed Kim to deliver the money to Nazarbayev but he was not sure whether his subordinate actually did so, the lawyer said.

The lawyer said the 62-year-old tycoon had met Nazarbayev on several occasions but did not give the money himself.

Kim denied any role in the scheme, alleging that the tycoon delivered the money himself to Nazarbayev when he visited Kazakstan in 1996, according to Chosun Ilbo and several other South Korean newspapers.

Lev Tarakov, head of Nazarbayev's press service, said he had not heard anything about the accusations and refused to comment.

Yerlan Bayzhanov, deputy head of Nazarbayev's press service, said he could not comment. When given some details from the story, he said that "most likely the information is unreliable."

In 1999, Choi was found guilty of falsifying papers to obtain dlrs 165 million in illegal bank loans between 1996 and 1997, then illegally transferring most of the money to a bogus company in the United States and depositing it in secret bank accounts.

His subordinate, Kim, was also convicted in the case and given a suspended three-year sentence.

When creditor banks demanded repayment of the loan, Choi forced Korea Life Insurance Co., a flagship of Shindongah, to lend money to pay back the money. Choi has denied any wrongdoing in the transaction. He said the money was transferred by mistake in complicated deals and that most of it has since been brought back to South Korea. But prosecutors said Choi had planned to use the money to create a secret fund to lobby politicians.

S. KOREAN CLAIMS BRIBE OF KAZAKH PRESIDENT
11/06/2001 The Washington Times A15

SEOUL - A South Korean tycoon testified that he ordered a subordinate to give $10 million in bribes to Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, to promote business in the former Soviet republic, court officials said yesterday.

There was no immediate reaction from Mr. Nazarbayev's office.

Choi Soon-young, 62, former chairman of Shindongah group and Korea Life Insurance Co., made the claim before a Seoul appeals court on Oct. 26, said his lawyer, Hwang Sang-hyun.

The court was reviewing Mr. Choi's 1999 conviction for fraud and illegally sending capital out of South Korea.

He was sentenced to five years in prison and fined $165 million.

ROK: Former Shindongah Chairman Admits Giving Money to President of Kazakhstan
11/05/2001 World News Connection

Choi Soon-young, the former owner of Shindongah business group and chair of Korea Life Insurance, has reportedly confessed to the court that he handed over US$1 million (equivalent to W8.3 billion at the conversion rate at that time) as a kickback to Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev back in 1996.

Choi is currently appealing his sentence in which he was charged with stealing company funds and transferring it overseas, and was found to have made the confession to the prosecutors during their investigation on Oct. 26.

Choi said that a certain Kim, the then president of a Shindongah subsidiary, asked him to give bribe money to the Kazakhstan head in hopes of expanding Shindongah's operations in the former Soviet Union state.

Choi said he gave the money to Kim to give to the Kazakhstan president.

In another round of court inquiries in July this year, Choi made the same revelation, but the former owner was said to have added that he was not sure whether the president of the subsidiary had actually delivered the kickback.

Reports had it, however, that Kim has been claiming that the accused Shindongah chair passed the fund himself to the president. Kim is expected to appear in court on Nov. 28.

Choi has been in detention since 1999 on capital flight charges under which he allegedly sent to a paper company in the United States a total of US$165 million, which his firm borrowed from domestic banks for export financing, using bogus documents to verify the export deal between 1995 and 1996. Of the total amount of the illicit fund, US$65 million has been unaccounted for.

The form group chair spearheaded operations of diamond processing in Kazakhstan in 1996 and 1997.

[Description of Source: Seoul Choson Ilbo (Internet Version-WWW) in English -- WWW-based version of Chosun Ilbo carrying English - language summaries and full-texts of items in vernacular hard copy. Root URL on filing date: http://english.chosun.com]

SOUTH KOREA Mogul Says He Bribed Kazakh President
11/06/2001 Los Angeles Times A-19

A South Korean tycoon testified that he ordered a subordinate to give $10 million in bribes to Kazakhstan's president, Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, in 1996 to promote business in the former Soviet republic, court officials said.

Lev Y. Tarakov, chief of Nazarbayev's press service, said he was unaware of the accusations and refused to comment.

Choi Soon Young, 62, former chairman of the Shindongah group and Korea Life Insurance Co., made the allegation before a Seoul appeals court Oct. 26, his lawyer said.

The court was reviewing Choi's 1999 conviction for fraud and illegally sending capital out of South Korea.