The Korea Equestrian Federation gave unlawful favors to Chung Yoo-ra, a former member of the national dressage team and the daughter of President Park Geun-hye’s close confidante Choi Soon-sil, a state audit found Wednesday.

The KEF issued fabricated documents to excuse her from missing classes and possibly helped her gain selection as a national athlete, according to the result of the 15-day joint inspection by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Olympic Committee.

Earlier this month, Chung had her high school graduation and admission to Ewha Womans University canceled over revelations she received special favors in attendance and academic records due to her mother’s peddling of influence.

The KEF has been suspected of giving special treatment to Chung in selection for the national dressage team in the 2014 Asian Games and of planning to help her compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. According to the findings, the KEF pushed for a road map to get Chung sponsorship worth 50 billion won ($42.8 million) from Samsung Group without reviewing the plan’s effectiveness or seeking a consent from the board of directors.

The names of the judges who select dressage players for the national team for the 2014 competition were also leaked to officials at the KEF. The judges’ identities are supposed to be withheld to ensure the fairness of the selection process.

In breach of its manual, the KEF’s reports on Chung’s training as to where she was trained and who was in charge training her had false and insufficient information, according to the audit result.

The equestrian agency also issued fabricated documents enabling her to be absent from classes with the excuse she was engaged in training or competition.

According to the Education Ministry, Chung was absent from Chungdam High School for 141 days of her senior year upon the documents and was still able to graduate. Of the 141 days she was absent, for 105 of them she attended neither training nor competition. 

The Culture Ministry plans to submit the audit results to an independent counsel investigating the case. It also plans to ask the Korean Olympic Committee to punish Chung. It said it will take disciplinary actions against the KEF officials involved in the irregularities.

Meanwhile, Rep. An Min-suk of the Democratic Party of Korea said Wednesday in a media interview that he had found Chung’s residence in Germany during a recent trip to the country.

Chung, 19, is thought to be staying in Germany, but her exact whereabouts have remained unknown.

An slammed the prosecution for its lack of efforts to locate Chung, who he called a core of the influence-peddling scandal. He also raised allegations that Choi family is suspected of being involved in money-laundering through their paper companies in Germany.

Chung earlier said through her lawyer Lee Kyung-jae, who also represents her mother Choi Soon-sil, that she would return to the country when the prosecution summons her for questioning. She, however, has refused to attend the ongoing parliamentary inquiry into the scandal.

Chung’s mother Choi, who holds no government post, is accused of meddling in state affairs, coercing donations from conglomerates and peddling influence in the education and sports sectors to get her daughter special treatment through her ties to President Park. Last week, the National Assembly impeached Park over the scandal.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)