Prosecutors on Wednesday raided Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Company (DSME), one of South Korea’s three giant shipbuilders, as they probe a suspected accounting fraud, the company said.
Some 150 staff from the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office stormed the DSME headquarters in Seoul and its Okpo shipyard on the southern island of Geoje.
“This morning, they started collecting accounting books, computer hard discs and other documents,” said a spokesman of the company.
DSME faces allegations that it manipulated its financial statements in 2013 and 2014 in order to make it appear financially healthier than it really was.
Prosecutors imposed travel bans on former chief executive officer, Nam Sang-tae, who led the company from 2006 to 2012 and Ko Jae-ho, who succeeded him until last year.
In January, auditors filed a petition with prosecution authorities, calling for a probe into suspected accounting irregularities.