Hanwha Hotels & Resorts raided over slush funds

By Kang Shin-who

Prosecutors raided Hanwha Hotels & Resorts Wednesday onsuspicions of them having played a key role in the creation of slush funds for its parent Hanwha Group.

According to the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office, investigators confiscated computer files and accounting books from the Hanwha unit which runs Hanwha Condo and Seoul Plaza Hotel along with golf clubs and Seolak Waterpia.

The latest search came after the prosecution raided Hanwha Group and Hanwha Securities last month.

Hong Won-ki, chairman of Hanwha Hotels & Resorts, is a key member of Hanwha Group and is said to have contributed much to reviving the near-bankrupt Hanwha Machinery in 2002.

Prosecutors said they have already secured evidence proving that the resort firm helped Hanwha Chairman Kim Seung-youn create slush funds.

Earlier, the prosecution searched the office of Taekyung Chemical, a supplier to Hanwha which is run by Hanwha Group Chairman Kim’s sister under similar suspicions that the firm also played a role in the creation of the slush funds under borrowed-name accounts.

The group started as an explosives-making firm and earns over $23.5 billion here and overseas. It was recently named one of the 500 global companies by American magazine Fortune.