The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on Thursday brought additional charges of bribery and pilfering from state coffers against ex-President Park Geun-hye.
The charges relate to W3.65 billion she was given in regular cash payments from the National Intelligence Service, a prosecution spokesman said (US$1=W1,065).
Park is already on trial on 18 other criminal charges including taking W43.3 billion in bribes from Samsung.
Park is suspected of taking the NIS money from three chiefs of the spy agency -- Nam Jae-joon, Lee Byung-kee and Lee Byung-ho -- between May 2013, right after she was sworn in, until September 2016, when the corruption scandal blew up.
She is also suspected of asking Lee Byung-ho to send W150 million in three installments to her chief of staff Lee Won-jong, who served from May to October 2016.
Park has refused to be questioned on the fresh charges, but prosecutors say they can prove that she spent most of the money for private purposes.
One of Park's closest aides, Lee Jae-man, has told prosecutors that she spent the money supporting a fashion boutique run by her confidante Choi Soon-sil, who is at the heart of the scandal, as well as paying for phones she used under false names, maintaining her private home in southern Seoul, and paying the bills of her various quacks.
