SEOUL: South Korean prosecutors on Wednesday (Apr 30) raided the home of the country’s ex-president, Yonhap reported, as part of a probe into a shaman accused of receiving lavish gifts for the former first lady.
Former president Yoon Suk Yeol was stripped of all power and privileges earlier this month by the Constitutional Court over his disastrous Dec 3 martial law declaration.
He was forced to move out of the presidential residence and into his long-time previous home in Seoul’s Seocho district.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the prosecution raided Yoon’s house “as part of its investigation into various suspicions over relations between his family and a controversial shaman”.
The shaman, Jeon Seong-bae, is accused of receiving a diamond necklace, a luxury bag and ginseng – a popular health tonic that can cost thousands – from a high-ranking official from the Unification Church and handing them to Yoon’s wife, Kim Keon Hee.
Jeon claimed he lost the intended gifts and never delivered them to Kim, but local media reported that prosecutors had obtained a text message from the official from the church group also known as the Moonies demanding he “give the necklace back”.
