Samsung Group Offices Raided By Korean Prosecutors (reuters.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: South Korean prosecutors raided the offices of Samsung Group on Wednesday, a prosecution official said, after media reports of alleged links with a confidante of President Park Geun-hye who has been indicted in an influence-peddling scandal. Prosecutors also raided South Korea's largest pension fund, the National Pension Service (NPS), an NPS spokeswoman said. The Yonhap news agency reported that investigators were probing NPS's decision to approve the $8 billion merger of Samsung CT Corp and Cheil Industries last year. The raids signaled that prosecutors are expanding their investigation into allegations of influence-peddling in the corruption scandal that has rocked Park's presidency over the relationship between the government and big businesses. NPS, the world's third-largest pension fund, has come under scrutiny by the media and civic groups over its approval as a major shareholder of the merger between two affiliates of Samsung Group, South Korea's largest family-run conglomerate. Its backing was seen as crucial to the success of the merger and some South Korean media reports said its approval came under mysterious circumstances. Prosecutors raided four locations -- the NPS headquarters, NPS Investment Management office headquarters, Samsung Group offices and the office of a former NPS investment management official -- said a prosecution official who was not authorized to speak to the media and declined to be identified. Park and her confidante, Choi Soon-sil, are under investigation for allegedly improperly pressuring major conglomerates, including the Samsung Group, to raise funds for foundations that backed Park's policy of promoting the cultural and sports communities.

Comments

Color me surprised

[Anubis IV]

You mean the company whose offices were raided less than a decade ago because the previous CEO was maintaining a slush fund to pay off government officials is embroiled in a fresh scandal involving the company currying illegal favor with government officials? Surely not! I thought they had left all of that behind after they allegedly bribed government officials so that the previous CEO's son could become the current CEO without the government asking any questions about the son's level of involvement in the previously mentioned crimes!

...which (just in case you're wondering about the timeline of events) came after the President of South Korea pardoned the father/previous CEO so that he could serve on the IOC instead of serving the three years of jail time he was sentenced to.

So yeah, I'm very surprised at this turn of events. Definitely didn't see it coming.