[Exclusive] Prosecutors Raid Hanssem, Hyundai Livart, and Others... Bid Rigging in Built-in 'Special Sale Furniture' Contracts

Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Seocho-dong, Seoul. / Photo by Choi Seok-jin

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The prosecution has launched a forced investigation into allegations of bid-rigging involving domestic furniture companies such as Hanssem and Hyundai Livart.

The Fair Trade Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Jeong-seop) is conducting raids on these furniture companies in Gangnam and Mapo districts as of the 1st.

The prosecution believes that domestic furniture companies colluded during the bidding process to select suppliers for 'special sales furniture' to be installed in built-in form in newly constructed apartments. They have been investigating the furniture companies that supplied the products as well as the construction companies that received the supplies from these furniture companies.

Last May, the Fair Trade Commission, which received a report under the leniency program of the Fair Trade Act (self-reporting reduction) along with the prosecution, also conducted on-site investigations of the furniture companies but failed to achieve significant results.