Me in front of one of our ships exactly a couple of years ago, July 26, 2007.| Daewoo Shipbuilding Headquarters Raided |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
Investigators raided the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) headquarters in central Seoul, Monday, seizing accounting books and computer hard drives according to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office.
The search was conducted mainly on financial departments and they confiscated documents and other material related to the company's accounts and contracts. They also searched its branch in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province.
The raid came weeks after a former executive director of the shipbuilder identified as Hong, 51, was indicted for allegedly taking 700 million won in bribes in return for providing favorable treatment to subcontractors.
Lee Chang-ha, 53, a renowned architect and ex-executive of DSME, was also accused of receiving bribes.
The raid has raised speculation that the prosecution is looking into whether the company has been operating a slush fund, as the investigation has now expanded to become a company wide one.
However, DSME denied the allegations. ``How can a company under creditor control create a slush fund,'' said a company spokesman.
Last October, Hanhwa Group signed a contract to take a major stake in DSME with its creditors, but recently abandoned the planned acquisition due to a lack of funding.
meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr
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Besides this, my fellow Filipino engineers whose contracts are about to expire are currently praying for extension of contract. Last week our HR team told some of them that not everyone will be handed new contracts.
Recession has taken its toll.
I WISH ALL THE FILIPINO ENGINEERS IN OUR COMPANY THE BEST OF LUCK!
MAY GOD BLESS US ALL
