Strong Profits Mask Bigger Worries at Samsung Samsung Chairman's Wife Grilled in Corruption Probe Samsung Probe Reaching Climax with Appearance of Chairman Lee Group to Tell All About Samsung ‘Slush Fund’ on Monday Prosecutor General-Designate Questioned in Parliament Samsung Chief 'Spent Slush Funds Like His Own Money' Insults to Common Sense Special Counsel Extends Samsung Probe JoongAng Ilbo Chief Grilled in Samsung Scandal

That brings the list of key figures in the new government accused of benefiting from the so-called “Samsung scholarship” to five. Prosecutor General Lim Chai-jin, Lee Jong-baek, chairman of the Korea Independent Commission Against Corruption, and Lee Gui-nam, director of the Central Investigation Bureau at the Supreme Prosecutor's Office, were implicated earlier.

Fr. Kim In-kook of the Catholic Priests' Association for Justice speaks at a press conference on Samsung Group and a special counsel investigation into the conglomerate's corruption scandal at Mt. Surak Catholic Church in Sanggye-dong, Seoul on Wednesday afternoon. /Newsis

The Catholic Priests Association for Justice made the latest disclosure in a televised press conference at Mt. Surak Catholic Church in Seoul. The organization, which has regularly publicized allegations from the former Samsung lawyer who blew the whistle on a large-scale corruption scandal, said Lee Jong-chan took regular bribes from the conglomerate. He even visited the office of Samsung Group vice chairman Lee Hak-soo, who heads the group’s strategic planning office, when he was Seoul High Prosecutors' Office chief to collect money for his summer vacation, they said. Staff in the strategic planning office, which is suspected of administering Samsung’s slush funds, “laughed about him behind his back” because of that episode, the clerics added.

Turning to Kim Seong-ho, the organization said he was also “under Samsung's care” and received regular bribes. Whistleblower Kim Yong-chul “himself once delivered money to him,” they said.

Both Lee and Kim denied the accusations as “groundless.” Kim added the priests and the whistleblower "should take responsibility” if the ongoing special counsel inquiry finds nothing incriminating against him.

The Samsung Group also denied the allegations, saying it never delivered money to either man.

Meanwhile, the CPAJ said Hwang Young-gi, the former chairman of the Board of Woori Finance Holdings who is mentioned as a candidate for governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, “supervised the opening of bank accounts under borrowed names to hide Samsung Group's slush funds, when he was president of Woori Bank and of Samsung Securities.” They called for Hwang to be dropped from the list of candidates to head the financial watchdog.

Also on Wednesday, the team of the special counsel handling the inquiry grilled Choi Kwang-hae (52), the vice president of the Samsung strategic planning office, who is suspected of a key role in managing the slush funds and the conglomerate's underhand transfer of group ownership to chairman Lee Kun-hee's son. Choi, a financial expert who has worked as the financial chief in Lee's secretariat and headed the financial team at the strategic planning office, is also known to have managed Lee family's property.

(englishnews@chosun.com )