Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor, 'Stylish Marine' Participants Raided... Including Whistleblower of 'Rescue Lobby' Suspicion

[Financial News] The Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor Team (Lee Myung-hyun Special Prosecutor) has launched a forced investigation into participants of the KakaoTalk group chat 'Stylish Marine', suspected to be the rescue lobby channel of former Marine Division 1 Commander Im Seong-geun. It has been decided to share the seized items, including mobile phones of former National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong and former Black Pearl Invest CEO Lee Jong-ho, with other special prosecutors.
Jeong Min-young, deputy special prosecutor for Chae Sang-byeong, stated in a regular briefing on the 24th, "We are conducting searches and seizures on the residences and homes of 'Stylish Marine' related witnesses from this morning." The search and seizure began at 6 AM and is expected to be completed by the morning. The targets include the residences, vehicles, and offices of the chat room participants.
The search and seizure targets include not only former Commander Im and former CEO Lee but also former Marine Lee Gwan-hyeong, who interacted with them in the 'Stylish Marine' chat room. He had previously reported the rescue lobby suspicion of former Commander Im to Democratic Party lawmaker Jang Gyeong-tae in June last year. The special prosecutor team plans to analyze the seized items from Mr. Lee and decide on the timing of additional investigations.
Deputy Special Prosecutor Jeong explained, "The group chat 'Stylish Marine' is suspected to be a major channel for the rescue lobby of Im Seong-geun, so it's necessary to thoroughly investigate whether the chat room participants were involved in the rescue lobby," adding, "For this, it's important to confirm what discussions took place among the group chat members and their associates not only at the time of the incident but also afterward."
The Chae Sang-byeong Special Prosecutor Team also announced that it has proceeded with the process of sharing some seized items with other special prosecutors. The special prosecutor team has obtained separate search warrants for the items seized by the Rebellion and Foreign Affairs Special Prosecutor Team (Cho Eun-seok Special Prosecutor) and the Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor Team (Min Joong-gi Special Prosecutor) and executed them accordingly.
The Rebellion Special Prosecutor has reportedly secured the mobile phone of former National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong, while the Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor has secured the mobile phone and USB of former CEO Lee Jong-ho.
Additionally, the special prosecutor team is summoning Kim Hwa-dong, who was the chief of staff to former Marine Corps Commander Kim Gye-hwan at the time of the Chae Sang-byeong death incident, as a reference witness from 10 AM today.
Former CEO Lee is known as the account manager of Kim Geon-hee in the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case. He is suspected of being involved in the rescue lobby of former Commander Im in the 'Stylish Marine' chat room. In the initial investigation results of the Marine Corps Investigation Team's Chae Sang-byeong death case in July 2023, it was stated that former CEO Lee lobbied through Mrs. Kim to save former Commander Im, who was identified as a major suspect. 

scottchoi15@fnnews.com Choi Eun-sol Reporter