Suspicion of 'Samsung Welstory Catering Favoritism' Former MI Office Chief Choi Ji-sung Summoned by Prosecution

Choi Ji-sung, Former Head of the Future Strategy Office (Mijeonsil) / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The prosecution summoned former Future Strategy Office (FSO) chief Choi Jisung as a suspect to investigate allegations of preferential treatment in Samsung Group's catering contracts.

Since former chief Choi, identified as the so-called 'upper echelon' of the decision-making line, was summoned, there is an analysis that the related investigation has entered its final stage.

According to the legal community on the 27th, the Fair Trade Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Jeongseop) is reportedly seeking to confirm the circumstances under which Wellstory was unfairly supported by receiving all in-house catering orders over eight years from 2013, targeting former chief Choi.

Earlier, in June last year, the Fair Trade Commission imposed a fine of about 234.9 billion won on four companies?Samsung Electronics, Samsung Display, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and Samsung SDI?for unfairly supporting Samsung Wellstory by funneling affiliate catering orders through private contracts.

The Fair Trade Commission viewed that under the leadership of the FSO, clauses such as 'guaranteed margin on food material costs, additional payment of 15% of labor costs as consignment fees, and automatic reflection of price and wage increases' were included in the contracts to enable Wellstory to gain more profits.

Accordingly, the Fair Trade Commission reported former chief Choi and Samsung Electronics as corporations to the prosecution for violating the Fair Trade Act. Former chief Choi led the FSO from 2012 to 2017.

After receiving the case, the prosecution conducted raids in March at Samsung Electronics headquarters in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, and Samsung Wellstory headquarters in Seongnam. They also summoned Kim Myungsoo, president of Samsung C&T, and Choi Yunho, CEO of Samsung SDI, to investigate the decision-making process at the time.