Police have secured an admission from Yun Young-ho, a former head of the Unification Church’s world headquarters, that he gave money and gifts to politicians. 

According to Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday, police are said to have obtained the statement on Monday when they visited Yun at the Seoul Detention Center and questioned him for the third time. 

During two earlier visits from the police last month, Yun either denied the lobbying allegations or said he couldn’t remember the details.

While under questioning in August by the special counsel team in charge of the case centering on former first lady Kim Keon-hee, Yun acknowledged coming in contact with five politicians, including former Oceans Minister Chun Jae-soo, and giving some of them cash or luxury watches.

But after the resulting media coverage generated controversy, Yun changed his tune in court last month and denied having said it. 

Because Yun was inconsistent in his account of the facts, police then focused their investigation on securing statements from other people and hard evidence to corroborate what Yun said.