Prosecutors said on Tuesday they recently raided the headquarters of the nation’s only tobacco maker KT&G over allegations it created slush funds.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said it raided the marketing team of KT&G and 10 other companies that had contracts with the cigarette maker. 


KT&G is suspected of creating slush funds while signing contracts with advertising companies. Prosecutors said they are not ruling out the involvement of incumbent company CEO Baek Bok-in.

The latest raid came a month after Baek’s predecessor was indicted on charges of receiving kickbacks from subcontractors in exchange for business favors from 2009 to 2012.

After conducting a five-month investigation into KT&G, prosecutors indicted 18 people, including former and current executives, as well as the heads of some of the firm’s subcontractors.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)