Police said Thursday that they will launch a full-fledged investigation into allegations that a detained local construction contractor hired women to provide sexual favors to a number of high-profile figures in return for business benefits.

On Wednesday night, the 52-year-old construction contractor, surnamed Yoon, was put under detention immediately after a Seoul court approved the prosecution’s request for an arrest warrant for the businessman who has been at the center of a massive sex scandal.

The National Police Agency probing the case said that after reviewing investigation records, investigators will summon Yoon from his cell for questioning starting on Friday.

Yoon is suspected of offering lavish sexual entertainment between 2009 and 2011 to influential figures from all walks of life ― including former and incumbent ranking law enforcement officials such as former Vice Justice Minister Kim Hak-ui and the head of a hospital ― at his vacation home in Wonju, Gangwon Province, the NPA said. (Yonhap News)