South Korean prosecutors raided the Seoul office of Samsung Electronics for the second time today as part of a researchs for the political scandal with President Park Guen-hye.
The Samsung Future Strategy Office, the headquarters of the Samsung Group, is located at Samsung's headquarters in Gangnam, Seoul.
Samsung is said to have given money to the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, a close friend of President Park. Choi has been jailed for using his influence to influence national affairs through bribery by various groups.
The company of South Korea is reported to have given ₩ 3000000000 (about 3 million dollars) to Choi through a company called Widec Sports, based in Germany, with the nominal justification of supporting Choi's horse training.
Authorities launched a second raid to gather evidence that Samsung tried to use Choi's influence in the country's political authorities (Choi has a large stake in Samsung C&T) to vote in favor of merging the company with Cheil. Industries that took place last year.
The merger was finally approved and Samsung defeated Elliott Associates of the USA. The newly formed Samsung C&T is now the de facto leading company of the Samsung group and has a large share of Samsung Electronics.
This merger was seen as a way used by the ruling Lee to gain greater control over Samsung, the most important asset in the group.
Researchers are also looking at whether there has been some organized effort on the part of Samsung for bribes through Choi aimed at political influence.
