Land Speculation Followed by Supply Corruption... Police Raid LH Headquarters and Suspects' Residences (Comprehensive Report 2)

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[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The police have launched a forced investigation not only into the real estate speculation allegations involving employees of Korea Land & Housing Corporation (LH) but also into procurement corruption. This is the first time that the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, rather than the government joint special investigation headquarters (합수본) investigating real estate speculation allegations, has taken on the investigation related to LH.

The Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced that from around 10 a.m. on the 8th, they have been conducting search and seizure operations at six locations, including the LH headquarters, the residences of three suspects, and procurement companies, on charges of favoring certain companies in supplying construction materials during apartment construction.

Among the suspects, one is a former LH headquarters executive, and the other two are confirmed to be representatives of different construction material companies located in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. The police believe that LH gave preferential treatment to companies introduced by the former LH executive during the construction material procurement process.

The police reportedly discovered new suspicious points while collecting intelligence related to real estate speculation allegations and proceeded with the investigation. The search and seizure operations are being conducted not only in Jinju, where the LH headquarters is located, but also in areas including Hwaseong, Yongin, and Namyangju in Gyeonggi Province. Through the search and seizure, the police plan to secure related documents and hard disks to ascertain the specific details of when and to what extent the procurement corruption occurred.