A police officer accused of taking money to quash influencer Yang Jeong-won’s fraud case was arrested on the 5th.

Kim Ji-hyeon, the senior judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Southern District Court, held a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant substantive review) this afternoon for Inspector Song, who faces charges including leaking official secrets, and issued an arrest warrant, stating that “concerns about destruction of evidence and risk of flight are recognized.”

Inspector Song is accused of, while serving as team leader of Investigation Division 1 at the Seoul Gangnam Police Station, summoning Yangwho had been booked as a suspectfor questioning as a witness and then sending the case without referral with a ‘no suspicion’ disposition, thereby smoothing over the case.

In July 2024, Yang was repeatedly sued by franchisees of a Pilates academy chain on charges including fraud, but in December of the same year the police decided not to refer the case with a ‘no suspicion’ finding. Prosecutors believe that Mr. Lee, Yang’s husband, who was under investigation in a KOSDAQ-listed company stock manipulation case, provided entertainment to Inspector Song and others and asked them to bring Yang’s investigation to a close.

Prosecutors requested an arrest warrant for Inspector Song on April 22, but the court dismissed it, saying that “there is a dispute over whether the entertainment or money constitutes a bribe, and it is necessary to guarantee the right to defense.”

Prosecutors are continuing their investigation, viewing that, based on Mr. Lee’s call records, not only Inspector Song but also officers from Gangnam Station’s Investigation Division 2 may have been linked to the alleged case-fixing.