( 2 nd LD ) Prosecutors raid office of ex - President Lee Myung - bak ' s brother over NIS fund scandal ( ATTN : ADDS more details and background in paras 5 - 7 ) SEOUL , Jan . 22 ( Yonhap ) -- Prosecutors raided the residence and office of an elder brother of former President Lee Myung - bak on Monday as part of a probe into allegations that he accepted illicit money from the state spy agency . Investigators from Seoul Central District Prosecutors ' Office searched property that belongs to Lee Sang - deuk , 83 , to secure evidence , including documents and computer hard drives , the prosecution said . Prosecutors said they have obtained testimonies from National Intelligence Agency ( NIS ) officials and the ex - president ' s aides that they delivered hundreds of millions of won from NIS coffers to Lee , a former six - term lawmaker . The raid comes as part of a widening investigation into the alleged illegal provision of funds by the NIS to the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae during the two previous conservative governments . Prosecutors believe that Kim Joo - seong , a longtime close associate of the elder Lee and a former NIS senior official in charge of the agency ' s planning and coordination unit , may have played a key role in the alleged secret funneling of the funds to the former president and his family . Kim , who handled the NIS budget , was appointed to the post in 2008 even though he had no prior experience in the intelligence field . He had worked for over three decades at a retail company , for which the elder Lee once served as CEO . Prosecutors said they are not excluding the possibility that the NIS fund was used by Lee for his political activities . The investigation has been closing in on former President Lee , as a number of his close aides have been questioned for their involvement in the alleged delivery of illegal funds to the presidential office during his 2009 - 2013 term . Prosecutors have also undertaken a cross - interrogation of a former assistant to then first lady Kim Yoon - ok and Kim Hee - joong , then the presidential secretary for private affairs , to verify Kim ' s confession that he delivered US $ 100 , 000 from the NIS fund to her through the assistant . The ex - assistant has reportedly admitted to part of the claim . The former president denied any wrongdoing and spoke out in a recent press conference , claiming that the investigation is political retaliation by the liberal Moon Jae - in government . Park Geun - hye , an ousted and jailed former president , was indicted on additional bribery and embezzlement charges early this month in connection with the NIS fund scandal . This photo taken Nov . 15 , 2017 , shows Lee Sang - deuk , former lawmaker of the Saenuri Party and elder brother of former President Lee Myung - bak . ( Yonhap ) elly @ yna . co . kr ( END )