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Corruption Scandal Spreads at Samsung
By CHOE SANG-HUN
Published: November 7, 2007
SEOUL, Nov. 6 — A corruption scandal at the Samsung Group, the South Korean conglomerate, widened Tuesday as prosecutors opened a formal investigation into charges that its chairman masterminded a broad scheme of bribery and illegal transactions.
Prosecutors are investigating three major accusations of criminal behavior: the creation of a slush fund; the bribery of prosecutors and government officials; and an effort by the chairman, Lee Kun Hee, and his aide to illegally help his son take over control of Samsung.
“We are ready to unveil the truth through a stern, fair and thorough probe,” said Kim Kyong Soo, a prosecution spokesman.
In previous scandals that have plagued Samsung, several executives have been convicted of illegally trying to help Mr. Lee’s son, Jae Yong, take control of management, and of bribing politicians. But Mr. Lee’s family has escaped largely unscathed. This has led critics to charge that Samsung runs a vast network of bribery and influence-peddling through the government, the judicial branch and the media, making the Lee family untouchable — a claim vehemently rejected by Samsung.
This time, the group is facing a potent whistle-blower: Kim Yong Chul, its former chief lawyer, who said he was personally involved in bribing and fabricating court evidence on behalf of Mr. Lee and Samsung.
Samsung denied all of Mr. Kim’s allegations Tuesday, saying that he was turning against Samsung out of “personal grudges.”
In a legal complaint filed with prosecutors on Tuesday, Mr. Kim, who worked as an internal lawyer for Samsung for seven years until 2004, said that Mr. Lee and his top aides illegally ordered transactions that allowed his son to acquire Samsung shares from Samsung affiliates at unfairly low prices.
When prosecutors investigated one transaction in 2003, Mr. Kim said lawyers of his legal division at Samsung trained Samsung executives to serve as scapegoats to protect Mr. Lee, even though those executives were not involved. Two of the executives were found guilty in a court ruling in October 2005, and Samsung is appealing.
In interviews with South Korean media in the last few days, Mr. Kim said he was “sidelined” by Samsung after he refused to pay 3 billion won, or $3.3 million, in a bribe to the judge presiding over the case.
Mr. Kim’s accusations took on a new drama on Monday, when he gave a nationally televised news conference in a Catholic church in Seoul.
“Samsung instructed me to commit crimes,” he said at the news conference. “A basic responsibility for all Samsung executives is to do illegal lobbying, buying people with money.”
On Monday Samsung issued a 25-page rebuttal denying all major accounts of Mr. Kim’s allegations. It noted that Mr. Kim did not provide evidence to support his claims.
During his news conference, Mr. Kim did not keep promises he made last week to reveal internal Samsung documents, including lists of prosecutors who he said received bribes. He said that he would do so later.
Two influential civic groups — People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and Lawyers for a Democratic Society — filed a legal complaint Tuesday on behalf of Mr. Kim, prompting the official opening of the investigation by prosecutors.
from: http://www.nytimes.com (뉴욕타임즈)
---------------------------------------------
Samsung accused of using slush funds
By Song Jung-a in Seoul
Published: November 5 2007 17:58 | Last updated: November 5 2007 17:58
A former head of Samsung ’s legal affairs team on Monday urged prosecutors to investigate allegations that South Korea’s biggest conglomerate maintained slush funds for lobbying politicians, government officials and public prosecutors.
Kim Yong-chul, chief of the group’s legal team for about two years until 2004, claimed each of Samsung’s affiliates created billions of won of slush funds and managed them in its executives’ banks accounts. Samsung denied the allegations.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Samsung buys Israeli chip group - Oct-31Samsung posts first profit rise in a year - Oct-14Sharp to focus on small HD TVs - Oct-30Analysis: Samsung searches for ‘killer app’ - Aug-22Motorola loses market share - Aug-22Sharp sues Samsung over LCD patents - Aug-07Mr Kim said that about Won5bn ($5.5m) had been held in bank and brokerage accounts under his name, which he says he had not known about until recently. He claimed Samsung had established about 1,000 bank accounts for slush funds under the names of former and current executives.
Mr Kim claimed that Samsung used the slush funds to lobby finance ministry and national tax office officials and prosecutors.
He said he had documents showing that Lee Jae-yong, the son of Samsung’s chairman Lee Kun-hee, illegally amassed assets and that Samsung fabricated witnesses’ statements for the 2005 Samsung Everland trial. Both deny any wrongdoing.
In that case, Her Tae-hak and Park Ro-bin, the former and current presidents of Samsung Everland – Samsung’s de facto holding company – were found guilty of illegally aiding Samsung’s family ownership transfer by helping Mr Lee’s children to buy convertible bonds issued by Samsung Everland at a big discount.
“I really repent for being an accomplice. I wish that Samsung will be reborn as a healthy [group] and chaebol [conglomerates] should not pollute the country, the society and the legal system any more,” Mr Kim said at a news conference.
Mr Kim attended the news conference with the Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice, which he had initially approached with the claims.
Samsung issued a 25-page statement saying Mr Kim’s bank account was created with his agreement to manage the assets of a third person unrelated to the group or founding family.
Samsung said the group complied with international accounting standards and was not involved in illegal book-keeping. It said it had never bribed prosecutors or judges or fabricated witness statements in the Everland case.
“The group has reacted to Mr Kim’s one-sided claims with the utmost leniency and patience, but his wrong disclosures are feared to damage the group’s image and to dent its business activities,” Samsung said in a statement.
Chung Dong-young, a presidential candidate from the ruling party, called for a special investigation. Prosecutors said they would make a decision after reviewing reports and documents related to the allegations.
The group has been one of the drivers of South Korea’s industrialisation but it has been accused of seeking to transform the country into the “republic of Samsung”.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
from: http://www.ft.com (파이낸셜타임즈)
Corruption Scandal Spreads at Samsung
By CHOE SANG-HUN
Published: November 7, 2007
SEOUL, Nov. 6 — A corruption scandal at the Samsung Group, the South Korean conglomerate, widened Tuesday as prosecutors opened a formal investigation into charges that its chairman masterminded a broad scheme of bribery and illegal transactions.
Prosecutors are investigating three major accusations of criminal behavior: the creation of a slush fund; the bribery of prosecutors and government officials; and an effort by the chairman, Lee Kun Hee, and his aide to illegally help his son take over control of Samsung.
“We are ready to unveil the truth through a stern, fair and thorough probe,” said Kim Kyong Soo, a prosecution spokesman.
In previous scandals that have plagued Samsung, several executives have been convicted of illegally trying to help Mr. Lee’s son, Jae Yong, take control of management, and of bribing politicians. But Mr. Lee’s family has escaped largely unscathed. This has led critics to charge that Samsung runs a vast network of bribery and influence-peddling through the government, the judicial branch and the media, making the Lee family untouchable — a claim vehemently rejected by Samsung.
This time, the group is facing a potent whistle-blower: Kim Yong Chul, its former chief lawyer, who said he was personally involved in bribing and fabricating court evidence on behalf of Mr. Lee and Samsung.
Samsung denied all of Mr. Kim’s allegations Tuesday, saying that he was turning against Samsung out of “personal grudges.”
In a legal complaint filed with prosecutors on Tuesday, Mr. Kim, who worked as an internal lawyer for Samsung for seven years until 2004, said that Mr. Lee and his top aides illegally ordered transactions that allowed his son to acquire Samsung shares from Samsung affiliates at unfairly low prices.
When prosecutors investigated one transaction in 2003, Mr. Kim said lawyers of his legal division at Samsung trained Samsung executives to serve as scapegoats to protect Mr. Lee, even though those executives were not involved. Two of the executives were found guilty in a court ruling in October 2005, and Samsung is appealing.
In interviews with South Korean media in the last few days, Mr. Kim said he was “sidelined” by Samsung after he refused to pay 3 billion won, or $3.3 million, in a bribe to the judge presiding over the case.
Mr. Kim’s accusations took on a new drama on Monday, when he gave a nationally televised news conference in a Catholic church in Seoul.
“Samsung instructed me to commit crimes,” he said at the news conference. “A basic responsibility for all Samsung executives is to do illegal lobbying, buying people with money.”
On Monday Samsung issued a 25-page rebuttal denying all major accounts of Mr. Kim’s allegations. It noted that Mr. Kim did not provide evidence to support his claims.
During his news conference, Mr. Kim did not keep promises he made last week to reveal internal Samsung documents, including lists of prosecutors who he said received bribes. He said that he would do so later.
Two influential civic groups — People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and Lawyers for a Democratic Society — filed a legal complaint Tuesday on behalf of Mr. Kim, prompting the official opening of the investigation by prosecutors.
from: http://www.nytimes.com (뉴욕타임즈)
---------------------------------------------
Samsung accused of using slush funds
By Song Jung-a in Seoul
Published: November 5 2007 17:58 | Last updated: November 5 2007 17:58
A former head of Samsung ’s legal affairs team on Monday urged prosecutors to investigate allegations that South Korea’s biggest conglomerate maintained slush funds for lobbying politicians, government officials and public prosecutors.
Kim Yong-chul, chief of the group’s legal team for about two years until 2004, claimed each of Samsung’s affiliates created billions of won of slush funds and managed them in its executives’ banks accounts. Samsung denied the allegations.
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Samsung buys Israeli chip group - Oct-31Samsung posts first profit rise in a year - Oct-14Sharp to focus on small HD TVs - Oct-30Analysis: Samsung searches for ‘killer app’ - Aug-22Motorola loses market share - Aug-22Sharp sues Samsung over LCD patents - Aug-07Mr Kim said that about Won5bn ($5.5m) had been held in bank and brokerage accounts under his name, which he says he had not known about until recently. He claimed Samsung had established about 1,000 bank accounts for slush funds under the names of former and current executives.
Mr Kim claimed that Samsung used the slush funds to lobby finance ministry and national tax office officials and prosecutors.
He said he had documents showing that Lee Jae-yong, the son of Samsung’s chairman Lee Kun-hee, illegally amassed assets and that Samsung fabricated witnesses’ statements for the 2005 Samsung Everland trial. Both deny any wrongdoing.
In that case, Her Tae-hak and Park Ro-bin, the former and current presidents of Samsung Everland – Samsung’s de facto holding company – were found guilty of illegally aiding Samsung’s family ownership transfer by helping Mr Lee’s children to buy convertible bonds issued by Samsung Everland at a big discount.
“I really repent for being an accomplice. I wish that Samsung will be reborn as a healthy [group] and chaebol [conglomerates] should not pollute the country, the society and the legal system any more,” Mr Kim said at a news conference.
Mr Kim attended the news conference with the Catholic Priests’ Association for Justice, which he had initially approached with the claims.
Samsung issued a 25-page statement saying Mr Kim’s bank account was created with his agreement to manage the assets of a third person unrelated to the group or founding family.
Samsung said the group complied with international accounting standards and was not involved in illegal book-keeping. It said it had never bribed prosecutors or judges or fabricated witness statements in the Everland case.
“The group has reacted to Mr Kim’s one-sided claims with the utmost leniency and patience, but his wrong disclosures are feared to damage the group’s image and to dent its business activities,” Samsung said in a statement.
Chung Dong-young, a presidential candidate from the ruling party, called for a special investigation. Prosecutors said they would make a decision after reviewing reports and documents related to the allegations.
The group has been one of the drivers of South Korea’s industrialisation but it has been accused of seeking to transform the country into the “republic of Samsung”.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
from: http://www.ft.com (파이낸셜타임즈)
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