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SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors on Thursday raided two companies linked to former President Lee Myung-bak as part of their probe into a raft of corruption allegations surrounding Lee and his family.
Investigators from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office searched the headquarters of DAS, a local auto parts maker, in Gyeongju, 370 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and the residence of its president, surnamed Kang.
The largest shareholder of the company is Lee's eldest brother, but suspicions have persisted that Lee is its real owner.
The prosecution office has been looking into the suspicion that Lee may have exerted his influence to help DAS recoup 14 billion won (US$13.2 million) it invested in a troubled financial firm.
A group of investors in the financial firm, who failed to retrieve their money, has filed a complaint against Lee. They claimed Lee, who was in office from 2008-2013, moved presidential and foreign ministry officials to help DAS get back its investment. The financial firm, based in the U.S., was owned by Lee's former business partner.
The investigators also raided a DAS parts supplier, owned by Lee's wife Kim Yoon-ok's sister-in-law. The company is said to have been used to channel an alleged 12 billion-won slush fund created from DAS.
The sister-in-law, only known by her last name Kwon, was questioned by the prosecution on Thursday.
It was the prosecution's second raid on DAS in a month. Prosecutors from the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office, who are focusing on the secret fund scandal, also searched DAS on Jan. 11.
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