The chief executive of Daesang, accused of price-fixing in starch and sweeteners worth tens of trillions of won, faces another arrest decision on the 14th. Prosecutors reapplied for a warrant after the court last month dismissed an arrest warrant once, saying there was insufficient evidence of involvement in collusion.
Lee Ji-young, a senior judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, will hold a pre-arrest interrogation at 9:30 a.m. on the 14th for Daesang chief executive Im, who is suspected of violating the Fair Trade Act. The Fair Trade Investigation Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Director General Na Hee-seok) reapplied for an arrest warrant for Im on the 9th.
Prosecutors have been investigating after detecting indications that four oligopolistic starch and sweetener companies—Daesang, Sajo CPK, Samyang Corporation, and CJ CheilJedang—engaged in price-fixing worth tens of trillions of won over the past eight years. Starch sweeteners, including starch syrup, fructose, and oligosaccharides, are widely used as ingredients for snacks, beverages, and dairy products. Prosecutors particularly suspect that industry No. 1 and No. 2, Daesang and Sajo CPK, led the collusion.
Im and others are suspected of coordinating in advance the sales prices of starch sweeteners and corn byproducts, and of agreeing on prices ahead of bids for major end-users such as OB Beer and Seoul Milk. Prosecutors applied for arrest warrants on the 26th of last month for Im, Kim, a director and head of Daesang's starch sweetener business division, and Lee, the head of Sajo CPK.
The earlier warrant review produced mixed results. On the 31st of last month, the court issued an arrest warrant only for Director Kim, citing concerns about destruction of evidence and flight risk. In contrast, it dismissed the warrant for Im, saying there was insufficient evidence of involvement in collusion, and it did not find a risk of evidence destruction or flight for the Sajo CPK head either.
The key issue in this renewed review is expected to center on when and to what extent Im was briefed on and approved the collusion. It is reported that prosecutors reapplied for the warrant, judging that with only the working-level manager detained, there are limits to investigating the final decision-maker.