The prosecution investigating KT Group's 'suspicion of preferential treatment in subcontracting' is conducting a search and seizure at the offices of the children of Hwang Wook-jung, CEO of the subcontractor KDFS. This is to secure materials related to the internal decision-making structure surrounding the process in which special favors were concentrated on KDFS.
According to the legal community on the 22nd, the Fair Trade Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Jung-seop) sent prosecutors and investigators to the offices of CEO Hwang's children to secure related materials.
It was identified that Hwang's children, while working at KDFS, also owned separate offices under their personal names. The prosecution views these offices as effectively related to CEO Hwang and reportedly obtained and executed search warrants accordingly.
Prior to this, on the 16th, the prosecution conducted search and seizure operations at KT headquarters and its affiliates, including the home of Mr. A, an executive director at KDFS.
Mr. A is known to have a close personal relationship with former CEO Koo and CEO Hwang. He previously worked on facility management projects at KT headquarters and, after the inauguration of former CEO Koo Hyun-mo, moved to KT Telecop, a facility management affiliate. He later rejoined KDFS as an executive director, a company that receives orders from KT Telecop.
The prosecution is reportedly examining the roles of those involved, considering the possibility that their connections may be correlated with the preferential subcontracting. Besides former CEO Koo, Mr. A and Shin Mo, head of KT's management support division, have also been named as suspects.
After former CEO Koo's inauguration in 2020, KT changed the subcontracting order issuer from KT Estate to KT Telecop. KT Telecop entrusted the received orders to four subcontractors?KDFS, KSmate, KFnS, and KSNC?and adjusted the volume through quality evaluations. However, the prosecution believes KT Telecop ignored the evaluation criteria, disadvantaging KFnS and giving preferential treatment to KDFS. In fact, KFnS, which previously had the highest sales, saw a sharp decline after KT Telecop's management, while KDFS's sales increased more than tenfold.
The prosecution is also investigating allegations that CEO Hwang embezzled several hundred million won from KDFS funds.
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