3 Samsung Executives Questioned Over Slush Fund Raising

The special council investigating charges of slush fund raising and bribery by Samsung Group Saturday questioned three executives of the business group, including Won Jong-woon, executive managing director of fashionable garment maker Cheil Industries, Inc.

Won and two other executives of Samsung Electronics appeared with two lawyers at the office of the independent prosecutor of Cho Joon-woong in Hannam-dong in central Seoul at around 3 p.m.

They were questioned whether to allow Samsung Group to open bank accounts with their names for slush funds and whether they were involved in managing the funds, an investigator said.

Lawyer Kim Young-chul, who had disclosed the allegations on slush fund raising and bribing to ranking officials at government and politicians by Samsung in a systematic manner, was also called in for similar purpose. Kim served as executive in legal affairs at Samsung Group, after quitting prosecutor’s job in late 1990s.

Meanwhile, the special council is checking documents in 26 boxes which were confiscated from Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance Co. after raiding the head office of the insurer in central Seoul, the computerization center in northern Seoul and e-data center of Samsung SDS in Gwacheon, south of Seoul for some 16 hours in the previous day.