Suspicion of illegal built-in furniture worth 1 trillion won
檢 seems to be requesting a complaint to the Fair Trade Commission
On the 1st, the prosecution found out that major domestic furniture companies, including Hanssem, were suspected of collusion in bidding for apartments worth 1 trillion won, and launched a compulsory investigation. The Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office’s Fair Trade Investigation Department (Chief Lee Jeong-seop) sent prosecutors and investigators to 10 offices of domestic furniture companies in the metropolitan area to conduct a search and seizure.
This included major domestic furniture makers such as Hanssem, Hyundai Livart, Enex, Nexys, and Woomi. These companies are accused of collusion in the process of determining the so-called ‘special sale furniture’ suppliers that will be built into the new apartment complex. From 2015 to the present, the special sale furniture that entered 400 apartment complexes nationwide is the target.
Normally, bid rigging cases go through a procedure in which the Fair Trade Commission first investigates whether or not the Fair Trade Act has been violated, and then the prosecution initiates an investigation when it exercises its exclusive right to accuse. However, in this case, the prosecution took a preemptive measure by applying charges of violating the Framework Act on the Construction Industry.
It was reported that the FTC and the prosecution were aware of the case at the same time through the ‘Leinancy’, a voluntary reporting exemption system under the Fair Trade Act in May of last year. According to the guidelines of the Fair Trade Commission and the rules of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, the content related to leanness is confidential. In the same month, the Fair Trade Commission visited furniture companies such as Hanssem and conducted an ex officio on-site investigation, but has yet to come up with any special results.
The prosecution is expected to file a separate complaint with the Fair Trade Commission as soon as it analyzes the data obtained through the search and seizure and investigates the main people involved. An official from the prosecution said, “We conducted a search and seizure to confirm the scale and reality of the collusion,” and “we will proceed with necessary measures depending on the results.”
Reporter Kang Yoon-hyeok
