[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution investigating allegations of unfair support for Samsung Welstory, a subsidiary of Samsung Group, summoned and questioned a current executive who previously worked at Samsung Group's Future Strategy Office.
According to the legal community on the 26th, the Fair Trade Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Ko Jin-won) called Vice President-level executive A of Samsung Electronics as a witness in the morning.
Mr. A worked as a director in the strategy team of Samsung's Future Strategy Office (dissolved in 2017) from 2012 to 2017. He is currently known to be in charge of management support tasks within a business division at Samsung Electronics.
The prosecution is expected to verify with Mr. A whether there were any unfair instructions from the controlling family or management related to Samsung Welstory during his tenure at the Future Strategy Office.
Earlier, in June last year, the Fair Trade Commission issued corrective orders to Samsung Welstory, accusing Samsung Electronics, Samsung Display, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and Samsung SDI of unfairly supporting Samsung Welstory by funneling affiliate meal supply volumes to it, and imposed fines totaling approximately 234.9 billion won on these companies. Samsung Electronics has filed an administrative lawsuit, claiming the Fair Trade Commission's decision is unfair.
The Fair Trade Commission also reported former Samsung Future Strategy Office chief Choi Ji-sung and Samsung Electronics as violating the Fair Trade Act to the prosecution. Separately, the Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) filed a complaint in August last year against former chief Choi and Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jung Hyun-ho on charges of breach of duty related to the Welstory unfair support allegations.
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