Permanent Special Prosecutor summons former Seoul Southern District chief prosecutor Shin Eung-seok over alleged loss of cash band

The Permanent Special Prosecutor’s Team on the gwanbong-gwon and Coupang case, led by special prosecutor Ahn Gwon-seob, has summoned former Seoul Southern District chief prosecutor Shin Eung-seok for questioning over allegations that a gwanbong-gwon cash band went missing.
In a press notice on the 6th, the special prosecutor’s office announced that Shin was called in as a reference witness from 10 a.m. that day. This is the first time the team has summoned the former chief prosecutor for questioning.
Based on documents and witness statements already secured, the special prosecutor is expected to question Shin, who headed the Southern District Prosecutors’ Office at the time, about how the gwanbong-gwon cash band and sticker disappeared. Observers say senior prosecutor Park Geon-uk, who was in the reporting line, and Deputy Chief Prosecutor Lee Hee-dong may also be summoned soon.
The "missing gwanbong-gwon cash band" allegation centers on a claim that prosecutors lost the gwanbong-gwon paper band and sticker that had wrapped 50 million won out of 165 million won in cash seized from the home of Jeon Seong-bae, known by the religious title "Geonjin Beopsa."
Once it belatedly emerged that the Southern District Prosecutors’ Office had lost the gwanbong-gwon band and sticker, a political controversy erupted. Critics argued that the cash Jeon kept at home might have come from First Lady Kim Keon-hee, with whom he is said to have had close ties, and that prosecutors, fearing further investigation into this, deliberately destroyed the gwanbong-gwon band and sticker.
The Southern District Prosecutors’ Office maintained that an employee accidentally lost the band and sticker while counting the cash before the seized items were formally logged. However, as political wrangling continued, the controversy grew. A subsequent inspection and investigation by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office of the Republic of Korea (SPO) concluded that there had been no orders or intent from higher-ups to destroy key evidence.
Because the suspicions had arisen within the prosecution itself, voices in the ruling party argued that the case should be handed to an independent investigative body rather than left to prosecutors. This ultimately led to the launch of the special prosecutor. After searching the office of Prosecutor Choi Jae-hyun, who handled Jeon’s case, and related investigators, the special prosecutor has already questioned Choi once as a suspect.

kyu0705@fnnews.com Reporter Kim Dong-gyu Reporter