[THE INVESTOR] Former President Lee Myung-bak denied bribery and embezzlement charges against him, including those linked to the so-called DAS scandal, in his first trial at the Seoul Central District Court on May 23.

“DAS has been run by my elder brother and a brother-in-law for the past 30 years, and there was no management conflict among family members,” said Lee, arguing that rumors of him being the actual owner are groundless.

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His statement marked his first public appearance since he was imprisoned on March 22. He had not participated in the three pre-hearings held over the past few weeks.

DAS is a car component maker run by Lee’s older brother Sang-eun and other family members. The former president, who served as the CEO of construction firm Hyundai E&C in the late ’70s, however, is thought to have had control over the firm, which is a supplier of Hyundai Motor Company.

The firm came into the public spotlight as rumors surfaced years ago that the former president flexed his muscles to recoup losses from DAS’s investment in private investment firm BBK in the US. Lee also allegedly twisted Samsung Electronics’ arm to pay the fees to hire law firms to reclaim DAS’s 14-billion-won investments while pocketing company funds, worth 34.9 billion won and evading corporate taxes

In total the ex-president is facing 16 charges. He allegedly received bribes of 700 million won (US$649,040) in the form of “special activity expenses,” from the National Intelligence Service, the nation’s intelligence agency, from April 2008 to September 2011. His former aides, including Kim Baek-joon, a former general affairs secretary at Cheong Wa Dae, are also suspected to be involved in the bribery case.

The total amount of bribes he had allegedly received from private businesses, such as Woori Finance Holdings, Daebo Group and ABC-Sangsa, reaches 11.1 billion won.

In addition, Lee is suspected of abusing his power, as the nation’s leader, to find ways to avoid paying inheritance taxes, and leaking confidential presidential documents.

Incidentally, May 23 marks the ninth death anniversary his predecessor former President Roh Moo-hyun. The first trial of his successor former President Park Geun-hye, who is currently behind bars for a corruption scandal, was also held on the same day last year.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)