SK E&C faces bribery charge involving U.S. military garrison

By You Soo-sun

Prosecutors searched the headquarters of SK Engineering and Construction (SK E&C) in Jongno-gu, central Seoul, Friday, over bribery allegations concerning the expansion of the U.S. Army garrison Camp Humphreys located in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

Dozens of prosecutors and investigators seized related documents, hard drives and other materials related to the project.

The prosecution suspects the company handed 3.2 billion won ($2.94 million) in bribes to Duane Nishiie, a U.S. Corps of Engineers contracting officer at the time, to win the contract for the construction project valued at 460 billion won.

The company is accused of creating slush funds through a subcontractor run by a former South Korean military officer named Lee Seung-ju. Lee, who was recently taken into custody here, testified he passed the money to Nishiie.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Lee and Nishiie were indicted in September for mail and wire conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering between 2008 and 2012.

The two allegedly received more than 3 billion won in cash and other payments and concealed the money using foreign bank accounts.

In exchange, Nishiie took official action to steer the contract toward SK E&C for the construction of the 9.4-square-kilometer addition to the military post.

In 2008, SK E&C won the contract to landscape the site and build infrastructure including roads, water and sewage and power.

Prosecutors plan to call in SK officials for questioning after examining the evidence.