More Samsung Executives Banned From Overseas Travel
By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
Prosecutors have banned an additional 10 people allegedly involved in Samsung Group's slush fund creation from leaving the country after raids on two affiliates of the conglomerate.
They said the raids were successful, indicating they have secured evidence on Samsung's illegalities.
A prosecutor said Monday that the prosecution imposed overseas travel bans on 10 people, including former Samsung Securities head Hwang Young-key, in addition to about 15 who had already been banned from traveling overseas.
The prosecution did so after raiding Samsung Securities headquarters, the firm's data storage center in southern Seoul, and Samsung SDS' data center in Gyeonggi Province over the weekend. A search at Samsung Securities' data center lasted for four days from Friday till Monday.
Hwang left the country a day before the raid and returned home Monday. The former Woori Bank chairman denied any link to the creation of the slush fund, saying if there are accounts opened under his name, maybe Samsung did it without his knowledge.
Prosecutors said they secured several executives' computer logon records and asked two executives allegedly involved to present themselves for questioning.
``With the secured documents, we'll fully investigate whether Samsung systematically raised and managed a slush fund. We'll trace the money flow in bank accounts suspected of having been used in the illegality,'' he said.
Kim Yong-chul, the group's former legal department director, claims that Samsung hid a massive slush fund in more than 1,000 bank and stock accounts registered under its executives' names.
Prosecutors have examined four accounts in Kim's name that he never opened, and plan to expand the inspection to more alleged ``borrowed-name'' accounts.
It was reported Monday that prosecutors found a list of 100 former Samsung executives under whose names the group allegedly opened bank accounts, with the total amount reaching to trillions of won. Annual sales of the nation's largest conglomerate are around 150 trillion won.
Kim told reporters before being questioned Monday that he heard prosecutors found around 1,500 accounts. He said the executives' names were not ``borrowed'' but ``stolen,'' indicating some of the accounts were opened without the executives' consent.
Prosecutors also reportedly obtained e-mails which are suspected of having been sent by a former Samsung Securities worker to the group right after Kim's disclosure about the alleged slush fund in order to blackmail Samsung. In the mails, the worker said he managed 100 bank accounts in other executives' names at the request of Samsung officials, according to the daily Hankyoreh.
Regarding such reports, the prosecutor said some were false or exaggerated.
Samsung denied the reports, saying the group never made such a list of executives and thus the prosecution did not have one.
``The reported list is one made by a former Samsung Securities employee who is wanted by the police for fraud. He sent an e-mail with the list to the company to demand money, claiming it is a list of executives with borrowed-name accounts,'' the group said.