Prosecutors Arrest Former Fair Trade Commission Employee and Kumho Group Executive for Bribery... Data Deleted Over Several Years

Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, Seocho-dong, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] A former Fair Trade Commission (FTC) employee who received money for years from an executive of Kumho Asiana Group and deleted unfavorable company data, along with the former Kumho Group executive who gave the bribes, have been detained by the prosecution.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office Fair Trade Investigation Division (Chief Prosecutor Kim Min-hyung) announced on the 4th that it detained former FTC employee Song Mo on charges of bribery and evidence tampering on the 24th of last month, and former Kumho Group Strategy Management Office executive director (currently auditor at Kumho Express) Yoon Mo (49) on charges of bribery offering and evidence tampering on the 28th of last month.

Earlier, the prosecution had requested detention warrants for both individuals together, but Yoon’s detention was carried out on the 28th of last month, and his interrogation date was held separately.

According to the prosecution, Song, who was in charge of digital forensic data analysis at the FTC, is suspected of receiving hundreds of thousands of won worth of money and entertainment from former executive director Yoon between 2014 and 2018, and deleting some data unfavorable to Kumho Group from the materials submitted to the FTC.

Song, who applied and was appointed to the FTC Cartel Division’s Digital Forensic Team in November 2013, worked as an investigator in the expanded Digital Investigation and Analysis Division after the Digital Forensic Team was reorganized in September 2017, and is known to have moved to a major law firm in 2018.

Former executive director Yoon, who worked as a management executive in the now-dissolved Kumho Group Strategy Management Office last month, is suspected of providing money and other benefits to Song and requesting the deletion of unfavorable company-related data before Song left the FTC.

The prosecution reportedly detected the two individuals’ charges during the investigation of Kumho Group’s alleged 'unfair support of affiliates,' which the FTC reported in August last year.

The prosecution is also investigating the possibility that former executive director Yoon committed these crimes under instructions from higher-ups in the group.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.