South Korea prosecutors raid Samsung Group offices: Yonhap

Employees walk past logos of Samsung Group at its headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2016.

Investigation trying to bring to light the nature of connections between Samsung and Choi Sun-sil’s foundations The special investigation team composed of prosecutors probing the Choi Sun-sil influence-peddling case abruptly raided the South Korean National Pension Service and the Samsung Group’s Future Strategy Office on November 23.

Prosecutors raided the National Pension Service (NPS) and Samsung Group’s strategic planning office on Wednesday as part of an investigation into whether the Blue House coerced the public pension fund to approve a merger at the country’s largest conglomerate a year ago.

Also on the same day, prosecutors raided the offices of South Korea’s National Pension Service.

Prosecutors are looking into whether President Park Geun-hye’s confidante and close friend, Choi Soon-sil, accepted bribes from Samsung executives in exchange for influencing key players in approving the controversial merger with Cheil Industries. Choi and another presidential aide were indicted on Sunday. The Samsung funding was aimed at helping promising equestrians train in Germany in preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Ms Park has been refusing to meet prosecutors who said she conspired in criminal activities with the confidante and she need to be questioned.

The raid is connected to the merger past year of Samsung’s construction unit Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries. Samsung Chairman Kun-Hee Lee has been ailing for the past couple years, and his son, Jae-Yong Lee, is slated to take over management of Samsung.

However, according to records of the NPS Investment Office committee’s decision to back the merger in July 2015, acquired by an opposition lawmaker and seen by Reuters, the NPS had calculated a merger ratio of 1:0.46 of Cheil Industries shares to Samsung C&T shares, based on its valuations of the two firms.

Wednesday’s raids aren’t the first prosecutors have carried out on Samsung. Elliott was the third biggest shareholder of Samsung C&T before the merger.

Prosecutors in Seoul could not be immediately reached for comment.

Despite the unfair ratio, the National Pension Service (NPS) voted for it, enabling Samsung to gain two-thirds of the voting stocks required for the passage at an emergency meeting of shareholders.

It is alleged, for example, that Samsung gave €2.8 million ($3.1 million) to a company in Germany owned by Choi and her daughter as part of a “consulting arrangement” to fund Chung’s equestrian training. A piece in the New York Times said President Park will have to improve on the apologies she’s made so far if she hopes to restore some of the public’s faith.