The offices of the embattled South Korean tech giant Samsung was raided on Wednesday by prosecutors. However, the raid was not over exploding Samsung Galaxy Note 7 batteries but political in nature.
Yonhap reported that the raid was over Samsung’s alleged link with Choi Soon-sil, the confidant of South Korea President Park Geun-hye whose popularity has drastically dipped due to the influence-peddling scandal. A Samsung spokeswoman confirmed the prosecutors’ visit to the tech giant’s headquarters in Jeonju City and Seoul but declined to provide details.
Samsung’s Jeonju office is where the National Pension Service (NPS), South Korea’s largest pension fund, is located. According to Fortune, the prosecutors were investigating the approval by the NPS of the $8-billion merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries in 2015.
The president and Choi are also being probed for allegedly pressuring several conglomerates in the country, including Samsung, to raise money for foundations that backed Park’s promotion of cultural and sports communities in South Korea. On Sunday, Choi and An Chong-bum, the president’s former aide, were indicted and accused of abuse of power which further weakened Park’s ongoing battle to survive the funding scandal.
NPS had stakes in Samsung and Cheil. Its support to the two companies was seen as vital to the merger. NPS is the world’s third largest pension fund with assets of about $460 billion.
Besides Samsung, prosecutors accuse Park of extorting money from Hyundai and LG. She made history not only by being the first female president of South Korea but now also as the first to face a criminal investigation while in office, Wall Street Journal pointed out.
Besides raiding Samsung and NPS offices, the prosecutors have also called the heads of Hyundai, LG and SK Group for questioning over their possible donation of large amounts of money to the two foundations allegedly controlled by Choi.