Prosecutors said Tuesday they have indicted a former opposition lawmaker on charges of taking illegal political funds from a scandal-ridden savings bank.

Suh Gab-won, a former lawmaker with the main opposition Democratic Party, is charged with receiving 30 million won($27,985) from Kim Yang, vice president of Busan Savings Bank, in October 2008, officials at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office said. It is the first time a former politician has been put on trial for involvement in the scandal that has also implicated other high-level officials and politicians.

Prosecutors have launched a probe into possible links between the alleged illegal funding and the bank's investment of more than 55 billion won in an apartment project in Suh's former constituency of Suncheon, 415 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

The nation's largest savings bank was suspended in February due to weak capital strength stemming from bad real estate loans. It was later found to have sought the influence of senior officials and politicians in order to avoid regulatory oversight and punishment.

Suh has denied the allegations, saying he does not know Kim personally and has never taken money from him. He lost his seat in parliament after being fined last January for taking illegal political donations from Park Yeon-cha, the former chairman of Taekwang Industrial Co., in a separate high-profile bribery scandal. (Yonhap News)