A Seoul court has reassigned a corruption case involving President Lee Myung-bak’s elder brother Lee Sang-deuk to a different team as the previous presiding judge was a member of the disgraced politician’s church.

The Seoul Central District Court said Monday that the change was made to forestall a possible controversy over the credibility of court deliberations on the case.

“Judge Jeong Seon-jae does not have any personal relationship at all with Lee. But he demanded the reassignment to prevent any controversy over the fairness of the court proceedings,” the court said.

Lee was indicted last week on charges that he had taken more than 700 million won ($ 615,000) in kickbacks from two savings banks and a company between 2007 and last year. He is the first sibling to be indicted when the president is still in office.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)