Prosecutors Raid Offices of 3 Shinhan Financial Execs

Prosecutors conducted a surprise raid Tuesday on the offices of former Shinhan Financial Group Chairman Ra Eung-chan, CEO Shin Sang-hoon and Shinhan Bank Lee Baek-soon at the group’s headquarters in central Seoul.

Dozens of prosecutors and investigators raided Shinhan Financial headquarters around 9:30 a.m. and searched the offices of Ra and Shin on the 16th floor and Lee’s on the sixth floor for more than five hours.

They seized hard drives and official documents for managerial review that the three suspects used. Also searched were the offices of the group’s finance and business assistance teams on the 17th floor.

The raid was the first at Shinhan Financial headquarters since 1995, when Shinhan Bank was embroiled in the slush fund scandal of former President Roh Tae-woo.

A prosecution source said, “The raid and search operation was conducted to secure data related to the lawsuits and information that can substantiate suspicions that prosecutors additionally secured.”

Prosecutors will likely expand their probe into other allegations surrounding the three suspects.

jefflee@donga.com yunjung@donga.com