South Korean prosecutors raided Samsung's office for the second time today Electronics in Seoul, as part of an investigation into the political scandal involving 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 South Korean company is said to have given ₩3000000000 (about $3 million) to Choi through a company called Widec Sports based in Germany, under the nominal pretext of support of Choi's daughter's equestrian training.
The second raid by the authorities was carried out to collect evidence of whether 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 mergeof 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.
