A local court in South Korea issued a pretrial arrest warrant on Friday for a former lawmaker and political consultant in a high-profile campaign finance scandal that has implicated President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee.

The warrants were issued by the Changwon District Court located in the the southern part of the country for the arrest of Myung Tae-kyun, a self-proclaimed political consultant, and Kim Young-sun, a former ruling People Power Party (국민의힘) lawmaker. The two figures face charges of violating a political funding law, with Myung accused of receiving around $54,000 from the former lawmaker in exchange for his help in getting her nominated for a parliamentary by-election in June 2022.

According to the prosecution, when President Yoon Seok-yeol was elected, Myeong obtained money from Kim by promising to utilize his friendship with the president’s wife to give her a nomination in future elections, thus influencing the nomination process.

Myeong’s defense, on the other hand, denied the charges, stating that lawmaker Kim attempted to borrow election expenses for what they called “post-settlement.” According to them, the lawmaker received money only once and has since received no more, as claimed by the prosecution.

The defense team added that half of lawmaker Kim’s salary was handed over to Myeong only as a fund to pay for the initial borrowed money.

The case has drawn more criticism following the publication of a phone call last month between President Yoon and Myung a day before the presidential inauguration in 2022, where Yoon stated that he had recommended Kim to the party’s nomination committee.