A key figure in the illegal government surveillance scandal denied his involvement through a written statement after failing to appear for questioning by prosecutors.

Jin Kyung-rak, the former chief of planning for the ethics division in the Prime Minister’s Office, submitted Friday a written statement regarding his official position.

“I have never destroyed evidence in the illegal surveillance of civilians, nor have I ordered any,” said Jin in his statement.

He also denied ever having hidden a laptop containing documents on illegal surveillance.

Investigators at Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office are considering filing an arrest warrant for the former chief, but did not indicate when. The prosecutors had summoned Jin as a witness on several occasions, but Jin did not comply, saying that he was making preparations for his appeal.

Prosecution officials argue that Jin is a key figure in the investigation and that they need to investigate his involvement in the scandal.

Investigators are also looking into Jin’s responsibilities during his former post, and have begun questioning his former subordinates.

The investigators are looking into whether Jin had ordered Jang Jin-su to destroy the hard drive of his computer supposedly containing related evidence in July 2010. Jang is also a former PMO official who is convicted of destroying evidence during an original investigation in 2010.

Jin was sentenced to 10 months in prison with two years probation after being indicted for destroying evidence during the original investigation.

Jang had denied reports concerning his involvement in destroying evidence of a surveillance scheme conducted under the previous administration. He claims that the surveillance reports from the previous administration were destroyed under the orders of the Lee Myung-bak administration.

Earlier in the month, Lee Young-ho former presidential secretary and Choi Jong-seok former administrative officer for employment and labor affairs were both arrested on suspicion of destroying evidence.

Lee is accused of ordering an official to erase computer data in 2010, while Choi is accused of both ordering Jang to destroy evidence and paying him to keep quiet.

After documents surfaced implicating the PMO as part of a broader surveillance scheme, Cheong Wa Dae claimed that the former Roh Moo-hyun administration conducted and destroyed surveillance documents before the current administration.

By Robert Lee (robert@heraldcorp.com)