Special Prosecutor's Task Force Indicts Yoo Byung-ho on Charges of Abuse of Authority in Alleged Lax Audit of Presidential Residence Relocation

[Financial News] Yoo Byung-ho, the former BAI auditor who is under suspicion of a lax audit into the relocation of the Presidential Residence of South Korea, will stand trial while in custody.
The Special Prosecutor's Task Force, led by Kwon Chang-young, said in a press release on the morning of the 7th that it had indicted Yoo on charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of the exercise of rights while in detention.
According to the task force, Yoo served as BAI secretary general under the Yoon Suk Yeol government and is accused of abusing his supervisory authority in the course of auditing the alleged relocation scandal, including colluding with the Office of the President of the Republic of Korea and acting in response to requests from the office, which was itself the subject of the audit.
Investigators said Yoo issued illegal and improper orders in February and March 2023 that ran counter to relevant rules and established audit procedures, obstructing auditors from exercising their independent authority. He is said to have instructed them not to request documents from the Office of the President of the Republic of Korea by official letter, not to question people affiliated with the office, and not to conduct face-to-face interviews with people connected to the company.
The task force believes that 21 Grams, an unqualified company, borrowed the business registration of Wondam Construction, which held a general construction license, to make the project appear lawful and carried out the actual work.
The task force also suspects that the BAI distorted the audit results by recording in its report that 21 Grams was responsible only for interior work, even though it was aware that the company, which lacked the qualifications for an expansion project, had in fact handled most of the residence construction.
Investigators also found signs that an official from the Office of the President of the Republic of Korea's audit response team conveyed improper intentions after receiving a request from the head of 21 Grams, identified only by the surname Kim, by asking Yoo's side to conduct a written review rather than a face-to-face interview. The BAI had originally planned to question people from 21 Grams and Wondam Construction in person, but abruptly changed course to a written review in March 2023.
Yoo, who was arrested by the task force on the 20th of last month, had his detention period extended once on the 27th, with the term set to expire on the 8th. He filed a request for a detention review with the court on the 4th to challenge his arrest, but the court rejected it.
[email protected] Kim Dong-gyu Reporter