South Korean prosecutors have raided the office of Samsung Electronics in Seoul as part of an investigation into the political scandal involving President Park Geun-hye.
The Samsung Future Strategy Office is the control tower of the entire Samsung Group, and is located at the headquarters of Samsung Electronics in Gangnam, Seoul.
Samsung allegedly gave money to the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, a close friend of President Park. Choi has been imprisoned for using his influence to influence national affairs through bribes from various groups.
The South Korean company allegedly gave ₩3 billion (about $3 million) to Choi through a company called Widec Sports, based in Germany, under the nominal excuse of supporting Choi's daughter's equestrian training.
When this claim surfaced earlier this month, Samsung denied giving money to Widec Sports.
So today prosecutors also raided the Korean Equestrian Center, specifically the Korea Equestrian Federation and the Korea Horse Affairs Association.
It should be mentioned that Samsung Electronics chairman Sang-jin is also the chairman of the Korea Equestrian Federation, so his office was also a target of this raid.
It is the first time that authorities have raided Samsung's headquarters since the corruption scandal broke out eight years ago.
But the company had also been accused in the past of creating slush funds to pay bribes to senior government officials.
