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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] A South Korean court has approved arrest warrants for executives at major power equipment makers accused of rigging bids in tenders issued by Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO).
Judge Nam Se-jin of the Seoul Central District Court on Friday granted prosecutors’ requests to detain a senior manager at Hyundai Electric and an executive vice president at Hyosung Heavy Industries, citing concerns over the destruction of evidence.
Prosecutors allege that the executives colluded between 2015 and 2022 to prearrange winning bidders, contract volumes and bidding order in 134 tenders for gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) conducted by KEPCO. The total value of the allegedly rigged contracts is estimated at about 6.7 trillion won ($4.9 billion), exceeding the 5.6 trillion won previously identified by the Korea Fair Trade Commission.
The move to secure custody of executives from the industry’s top two players follows additional findings from investigations into already detained suspects, which prosecutors say have clarified the structure of the cartel, the division of roles and internal decision-making processes.
The case marks one of the most high-profile criminal probes into bid rigging in South Korea’s power infrastructure sector in recent years.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
