Prosecutors Summon Choi Yoon-ho, President of Samsung SDI, Over 'Wellstory Preferential Treatment' Allegations

Choi Yoon-ho, President and CEO of Samsung SDI [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The prosecution investigating allegations of Samsung Group's 'preferential treatment of affiliated catering companies' summoned and questioned Choi Yoon-ho, President of Samsung SDI (59).

According to the legal community on the 19th, the Fair Trade Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Jeong-seop) summoned President Choi in the afternoon as a witness and is currently investigating him.

In March, the prosecution conducted a search and seizure of the finance and accounting departments at Samsung Electronics headquarters and Samsung Welstory in connection with the group-level 'preferential treatment of catering contracts' allegations. The investigation team has been analyzing the seized materials and selecting necessary documents.

Earlier, in June last year, the Fair Trade Commission imposed a total fine of approximately 234.9 billion KRW, accusing Samsung Electronics, Samsung Display, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, and Samsung SDI of unfairly supporting Samsung Welstory by channeling affiliated companies' catering volumes to it. The FTC also reported former Samsung Group Future Strategy Office Chief Choi Ji-sung and Samsung Electronics corporation to the prosecution for violating the Fair Trade Act.

President Choi is suspected of being the person who, while serving as Executive Director of Strategy Team 1 at the Samsung Group Future Strategy Office in 2014 during the FTC investigation, obstructed competitive bidding for four cafeterias within Samsung Electronics to preserve Samsung Welstory's catering volume. Following this investigation, there is speculation that the prosecution will begin summoning higher-ups in earnest.

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