Prosecutors summoned a former chief of Daehong Communications Inc., Lotte's advertisement affiliate, on Wednesday for questioning over the alleged creation of a slush fund, as they widened their probe into the country's fifth-largest conglomerate.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said it summoned Choi Jong-won over suspicions the ad firm funneled more than 1 billion won ($880,000) into a slush fund by faking deals or exaggerating unit prices.


The 58-year-old is also accused of siphoning off kickbacks from the firm's contractors in return for business favors.

"There are some areas to look into regarding Daehong Communications' investment," a senior prosecutor said, asking not to be named. "We will move on to reviewing its management once we are done with investigating the slush fund and bribery allegations."

State prosecutors have been accelerating their investigation into the group, indicting the group founder's daughter Shin Young-ja on a string of corruption charges on Tuesday. (Yonhap)