Prosecutors said Sunday they were looking into new allegations that CJ Group raised massive slush funds through its branches in the U.S. and Indonesia.

The family-owned food and entertainment giant is under intensive investigation for allegedly running secret funds at home and abroad using borrowed-name accounts, ghost companies and fraudulent accounting. CJ is also suspected of evading taxes.

Prosecutors said they confirmed that the group had illegally transferred tens of millions of dollars raised in slush funds to its U.S. unit since 2008, reporting the money as overseas investments.

“We are investigating the exact size of the slush fund sent to CJ’s U.S. operation and where it was used for,” an official said.

The Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office has reportedly summoned and questioned the head of CJ’s U.S. unit surnamed Kim.

The group is also suspected of raising millions of dollars in slush fund by faking payroll of a former senior executive.

The executive, identified only with his surname Ha, did not work for the group’s subsidiary in Indonesia. But CJ appears to have transferred the money every month to Ha’s account as if he has been working for its Indonesia unit since 2009.

Ha served as president of CJ Group and other major senior posts in the group, officials said. He currently serves as an adviser to CJ Group after he retired from the group, they added.

Prosecutors questioned Ha and another senior executive who served as the head of the group’s Indonesia division by the time the fund was allegedly created by falsifying the pay record.

They are also tracking down the whereabouts of the slush fund and whether CJ chairman Lee Jay-hyun is involved in the case.

The prosecution has been zeroing in on the chairman and his family for their alleged creation of illegal funds for personal use and tax evasion.

Investigators believe that Lee and his family have evaded 51 billion won worth of taxes and embezzled 60 billion won worth of company money through fraudulent accounting.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)