Newport Beach Home Tied to Korean Bribery

LOS ANGELES (CN) - Some of the more than $200 million in bribes that Chun Doo-hwan collected as president of the Republic of Korea went into a Newport Beach home, the United States said in a federal forfeiture complaint.

Chun was convicted in Korea in 1997 of receiving more than $200 million in bribes from Korean businesses and companies. The Justice Department says Chun and his relatives laundered some of these illicit proceeds through both Korea and the United States.

Two months ago, the government seized $721,951 from the sale of a Newport Beach home bought in 2005 by the ex-president's son, Chun Jae Yong, with the alleged proceeds of his father's corruption.

The government brought the civil forfeiture complaint for those funds Thursday under its Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative. It noted that the action represents a joint effort with the Republic of Korea's Supreme Prosecutor's Office, the Ministry of Justice and the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office.

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