Prosecutors moved to detain employees of Hyosung Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Electric suspected of rigging bids for equipment ordered by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO).
According to legal sources, on the 8th the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office sought arrest warrants for two employees of Hyosung Heavy Industries and HD Hyundai Electric.
They are accused of agreeing in advance to divide volumes and then winning bids in turn in tenders for gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) worth 670 billion won ordered by Korea Electric Power Corporation from 2015 to 2022.
Earlier, in Oct. last year, prosecutors raided Hyosung Heavy Industries, Hyundai Electric, and other power equipment manufacturers and producers implicated in alleged bid rigging. On the 15th of last month, they sought arrest warrants for five employees at power equipment companies including LS ELECTRIC and ILJIN Electric, and two of them were arrested on the 22nd of the same month.
The investigation began late last year when the Korea Fair Trade Commission imposed a 39.1 billion won penalty surcharge on these companies and referred six businesses—Hyosung Heavy Industries, LS ELECTRIC, HD Hyundai Electric, ILJIN Electric, Cheryong Electric, and the Korea Electrical Manufacturers Cooperative—to prosecutors.