Police Conduct Search and Seizure at NongHyup Central Association Over Alleged Payment of Legal Fees for Executives and Employees

The police have conducted a search and seizure operation at the NongHyup Central Association, which is under suspicion of using company funds to pay legal fees for its executives and employees.

According to sources on the 13th, the Financial Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency carried out a search and seizure that day at the Compliance Support Division of the NongHyup Central Association in Jung-gu, Seoul.

This search and seizure was conducted as part of an investigation into allegations that approximately 320 million won in legal fees for the personal criminal cases of NongHyup executives and employees were paid using the association’s funds. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs detected these suspicions during an audit of NongHyup in November last year and subsequently requested a police investigation in January this year.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that the search and seizure on this day is unrelated to allegations of bribery involving Kang Ho-dong, the president of the NongHyup Central Association. The police, who have been investigating suspicions of bribery involving President Kang since around September last year, have yet to reach a conclusion after nearly eight months of investigation.