The Korea Customs Service (KCS) has raided the headquarters of Korean Air (KE, Seoul Incheon) as part of a widening probe into the dealings of the owner family of the Hanjin Group.
The Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday, May 16, that the KCS raid targetted the Cho clan's alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act.
About 40 customs officers from the Seoul Customs Service descended on five of the airline's departments, including its finance division, as part of a raid on its headquarters and IT centre.
This raid follows three previous KCS raids which have focussed on allegations Chairman Cho Yang-ho's family had been smuggling luxury goods into Korea without paying import duties.
The head of the KCS told the news agency that Chairman Cho and his only son, Won-Tae, who is the president of Korean Air, will be questioned over the alleged malfeasance.
Chairman Cho stepped down from his post of co-chief executive at Korean Air's low-cost carrier unit, Jin Air (LJ, Jeju), following yet another investigation into his family's dealings. In this instance, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) is considering what sanctions to impose on the airline given revelations that Cho's daughter, Cho Hyun-min, had contravened Korean airline ownership law by registering as a Jin Air board member despite holding US citizenship.
