Prosecutors on Thursday questioned the chief of a state-run anti-money laundering agency over allegations that he accepted tens of millions of won in kickbacks from Busan Savings Bank.

The interrogation came as they widened their probe into the bribery scandal involving savings banks.

The ongoing investigation into who oversaw the savings banks’ corruption has already implicated an ex-governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, an incumbent deputy governor at the FSS and a top state auditor.

More than 40 former and incumbent officials of the FSS, the financial watchdog, have been questioned by prosecutors in the snowballing savings banks scandal.

Kim Gwang-soo, who is commissioner of the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit, served as a senior official of the Financial Services Commission, the supreme financial regulatory agency that controls the FSS.

The prosecution reportedly obtained a statement from an official at Busan Savings Bank that he offered money to Kim, asking for influence-peddling in the FSC.

Kim is also suspected of giving preferential treatment to savings banks by easing regulations on project financing loans in 2006 when he was working in the presidential office and the Finance Ministry, and helping Busan Savings Bank acquire banks in Daejeon and Jeonju in 2008 while serving as an FSC director.

The prosecution is considering seeking an arrest warrant for Kim, a day after raiding the FIU chief’s office to search for evidence.

The prosecution also plans to question former FSS governor Kim Jong-chang, who was appointed by President Lee Myung-bak, suspecting that Kim may have pressured staff to turn a blind eye the Busan bank.

The FSS is the nation’s top financial regulatory body that examines and supervises savings banks and other financial institutions. In February, it suspended Busan Savings Bank and other savings banks, citing severe capital shortages.

Before Kim, the prosecution had zeroed in on Eun Jin-soo, prompting him to resign as commissioner of the Board of Audit and Inspection. Eun was arrested Monday on charges of receiving 70 million won in bribes from Yoon Yea-seong, an arrested financial broker and lobbyist hired by Busan Savings Bank.

The former BAI official was among the attorneys of President Lee when Lee was embroiled in a stock price-rigging scandal dubbed the BBK case in 2007. Eun served as a chief legal adviser in Lee’s presidential transition team.

The financial scandal is quickly turning into a political one, with some observers predicting that the main opposition Democratic Party leaders may be the eventual targets.

On Tuesday, the presidential office and opposition lawmakers accused each other of possibly doing favors for troubled savings banks.

Former DP floor leader Park Jie-won said on Monday that a parliamentary fact-finding team must look into “what kind of role presidential aide Chung Jin-seok played in helping Shin Sam-kil acquire Samhwa Mutual Savings Bank,” noting that Chung served as an outside director to Samhwa for nearly four years. Shin, the arrested honorary chairman of Samhwa, assumed the position after buying the bank using loans from Busan Savings Bank, Park claimed.

Chung said Shin was just one of thousands of acquaintances.

A Cheong Wa Dae official said on Tuesday that a DP official filed a request to the presidential office in November asking for leniency in overseeing Bohae Mutual Savings Bank based in Park’s constituency of Mokpo.

Park said he never made such a request.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)