Daebo Group chairman probed for embezzlement

By Kim Rahn

Choi Dung-kyu

The prosecution is investigating Daebo Group Chairman Choi Dung-kyu for alleged embezzlement and breach of trust, officials at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said Wednesday.

Investigators recently raided Choi’s home, the group headquarters and an office of its affiliate, Daebo Communication & Systems, and seized computers and account books.

They plan to summon other executives soon after finishing their review of the seized materials.

Prosecutors said they received a tip that Choi embezzled billions of won in company funds through the affiliate. The subsidiary belonged to the Korea Expressway Corp. and Daebo took it over in 2002.

The group operates 36 rest areas on highways across the country. It had 1 trillion won in sales last year via its various businesses, including construction, communications, distribution and leisure entities.

The communications affiliate’s main business is to manage highway communications systems, but it has worked with other public organizations including the Defense Acquisition Program Administration and the National Health Insurance Service.

“The affiliate won bids for many projects organized by the Korea Expressway and other public companies. We are also looking into whether the embezzled money was used to bribe officials at the state-run company or political heavyweights,” a prosecutor said.