bribery
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Samsung's Lee Kun-hee carefully considering his options: prompt or prolonged resignation
Not a lot of people in the US know the name Lee Kun-hee, but he's the chairman and son of the founder of the world's largest gadget company: Samsung. And he's also at the epicenter of one of the craziest corruption scandals the industry has seen in years. Kun-hee and his cronies have already been subject to government probes, and the disgraced chairman has already basically admitted his guilt and responsibility for Samsung's bribery wrongdoings, but now he's made the next ever so gingerly step towards the exit by stating, "I will deeply think about reshuffling the corporate management structure and the management lineup, including myself." Sure, think it over, take all the time you need -- just don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, man.
Samsung boss responds to bribery probe: "I am responsible"
Lee Kun-hee, Samsung's 66 year old chairman and son of the company's founder, made a potentially damning announcement over the weekend. Following 11 hours of interrogation by prosecutors into allegations of bribery and maintaining a slush fund (among other improprieties), Lee said, "This is all due to my carelessness. I am responsible for everything and must take responsibility." We won't know for sure until the investigation is complete. However, the statement is less likely an admission of guilt than it is an attempt to appease the people of South Korea where the Samsung "chaebol" is more than just a brand, it's a national symbol of pride... at least it was.
Samsung's Korean headquarters raided by police
Samsung just can't seem to keep itself out of hot water these days. On the heels of its chairman's home raid, it now appears that the Samsung Group headquarters have also been the target of a shakedown. Apparently, the flurry of activity is all related to an ongoing probe into accusations that the electronics-maker is responsible for a slush fund used to bribe influential prosecutors, judges, and political figures. The charges are being lobbed by Kim Yong-chul, a former legal affairs official at Samsung, who claims that the conglomerate used some 200 billion won ($215 million) to fund the shady dealings. The company denies the accusations, of course, though Chairman Lee Kun-hee has been convicted of bribery before in Korean courts... so, uh, this isn't looking good.
Samsung chairman's home raided over bribery scandal
Oh noes. An independent investigation launched last week into an alleged multi-million-dollar slush fund has raided the homes of Samsung chairman, Lee Kun-Hee, and six other Samsung execs. The chairman and the executives are already banned from leaving the country. The investigation saw some 50 investigators seize documents and a laptop from Lee's Seoul villa after a search lasting several hours. Samsung, for its part, has denied the long whispered bribery claims, made formal by its former chief lawyer last year.
Latest Samsung scandal gets hot-button treatment
It's no secret that Samsung and scandal have gone hand-in-hand in the past, but apparently, the latest one has been of particular significance in the firm's homeland. The most recent incident involves Kim Yong-chul, a former top Samsung lawyer, who went public this month with claims that Chairman Lee Kun-hee and other officials "masterminded a campaign to raise slush funds to pay prosecutors, judges and lawmakers and influence a high-profile court case." In response, independent prosecutors were called in to investigate the allegations of "bribery and policy manipulation," and not surprisingly, Samsung has reportedly fired back calling the proclamations "groundless and false." It should be noted that no "substantiating evidence" has been provided thus far, but analysts are already suggesting that these assertions, if proven legitimate, could even play a role in the nation's upcoming presidential election.[Via BusinessWeek, image courtesy of Forbes]
Officers' Quarters: My personal errata
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.What is "errata'? It's a fancy word, taken from Latin, that basically means "errors" or "mistakes." As much as I'd like it to, running a guild doesn't pay enough to make it my full-time job. So I work in publishing. Whenever we publish a book, before the pages even begin churning off the press, we're already hard at work looking for any mistakes that we need to correct in the next printing. Like most media companies, we call these mistakes "errata," probably because by giving them a fancy name it doesn't sound quite so horrible that we printed a book with a picture of Cookie Monster above the caption "Vladimir Putin." (Just a hypothetical example . . .)With 15 columns under my belt, I thought it would be a fine time to look back and, in the tradition of publishing, point out some of my errata for our readers' benefit and amusement.
Siemens board member arrested in payola scandal
With all of the bribery, corruption, and kickback scandals plaguing German giant Siemens at the moment, we're half expecting to wake up tomorrow and learn that one of their executives drunkenly wrapped his exotic car around a tree after a night of boozing it up with notorious Deutchland bad boy Dietrich. The latest player to get caught up in this mess -- and the highest ranking -- is board member Johannes Feldmayer, who was detained yesterday while prosecutors tore his life apart executed search warrants on three of his offices. Interestingly enough, Feldmayer's alleged payoff of already-arrested union official Wilhelm Schelsky has nothing to do with the larger $500 million embezzlement scandal involving the company's communications division, which sparked that countrywide raid late last year. Siemens has reportedly brought on an anti-corruption expert to advise the firm on how to, um, not be so corrupt, and we hear that the bidding war for his services got pretty heated when BenQ also learned that there are people out there who can help you run your business in a less shady manner.
Indian political party trades TVs for votes; free HDTV campaign in 2008?
Although bribery isn't exactly smiled upon here in the States, we've got a hunch that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam political party in India is on to something. In news likely to cause turmoil (or not) among culturally-planted Americans, the DMK promised a bevy of new electronics to folks who cast their vote for them, and apparently, it worked. After falling from power in 2001, the party has stormed back into prominence by offering poor citizens niceties (such as stoves and TVs) which most could never afford on their own. By wording the goodies as "social welfare" benefits, the sets they hand out supposedly aid the voters in receiving news critical to their life, health, and work, which in turn benefits society the DMK as a whole. While America hasn't had the best luck so far with all these e-voting implementations, and considering a good few don't even cast a passing glance at anything political, we'd bet a "Free HDTV" campaign would result in surefire admission into the Oval Office.[Via Fark]
Sony tries baseball, bribery
Lacking anything positve to report, the Sony public relations squad took a bunch of press types to the ballgame for the the purpose of winning a few media hearts and minds. Tony and Ryan from VGMDaily recount how they were fattened with peanuts and Cracker Jacks while playing PS2 games on a Jumbo-tron screen at the Toronto SkyDome -- presumably in hopes they would forget to mention Sony's failures the next day. Having seen the effects of corporate bribery up close at E3, I can confirm that it is a useful technique for inspiring junket journalism, provided the perks are right. But Blue Jays tickets? We're talking massive PR damage here. Next time, try Yankees tix. Or at the very least, Red Vines.
