This article was published on May 26, 2025, at 4:19 p.m. on the ChosunBiz RM report site.
The prosecution is conducting searches of the Sampyo Group's headquarters and other locations on the 26th related to suspicions that it improperly supported the company owned by Chairman Jeong Do-won's eldest son.
On the same day, the Antitrust Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Director General Kim Yong-sik) is conducting searches of the Sampyo Industries headquarters and Chairman Jeong Do-won's residence for allegations of breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.
Earlier, the Fair Trade Commission imposed a penalty surcharge of 11.62 billion won on Sampyo Industries in August last year for allegedly providing improper support to the chairman's son's company by purchasing ready-mixed concrete raw materials at higher than market prices, and reported Sampyo Industries to the prosecution.
Sampyo Industries is a core subsidiary of Sampyo Group that manufactures and sells aggregates, ready-mixed concrete, and concrete products. Chairman Jeong Do-won holds 30.33% of the equity, while SP Nature holds 18.23%. SP Nature is a personal company in which Jeong Dae-hyun, Vice Chairman of Sampyo Group and the son of Chairman Jeong, holds 71.95% of the equity. This company is responsible for supplying the powder used in ready-mixed concrete manufacturing.
The Fair Trade Commission concluded that Sampyo Industries purchased all powder solely from SP Nature from January 2016 to December 2019 and paid higher prices compared to when dealing with non-affiliated companies. It revealed that SP Nature gained an undue profit of 750 million won, which is 5-9% of its annual operating profit.
The Fair Trade Commission determined that SP Nature utilized the undue profit gained from these internal transactions to participate in paid-in capital increases of Sampyo and Sampyo Industries, thereby increasing its equity percentage, which ultimately strengthened the controlling power of Vice Chairman Jeong Dae-hyun in major affiliates.
In December last year, the prosecution indicted Sampyo Industries and former CEO Hong Seong-won on charges of violating the Fair Trade Act. As the statute of limitations for the Fair Trade Act was approaching, the prosecution initially brought the corporation and the then-CEO to trial. The prosecution has been continuing investigations regarding Chairman Jeong Do-won, Vice Chairman Jeong Dae-hyun, and their family, suspecting breach of trust and embezzlement.