The prosecution has begun a full-fledged investigation into Samsung's headquarters to investigate suspicions over the merger between Samsung C & T and Cheil Industries.

The fourth anti-corruption prosecutor of Seoul Central District Attorney (Lee Bok-hyun, general prosecutor) summoned former Kim Chun (63) representative of Samsung C & T as suspect on the 7th.

The prosecution planned to ask former President Kim about how Samsung C & T's company value fell shortly before the merger in 2015 and whether or not to intervene at the group level.

The prosecution is reported to have found that the attorney accompanied by former Kim is also the legal representative of Samsung C & T Corporation, the victim.

Kim is expected to go to the prosecution again for investigation as soon as he has a new lawyer.

Former CEO Kim served as president of Samsung C & T in 2010-2018.

Kim is the first to summon president-level personnel since the prosecution seized and searched for Samsung C & T on September 26 last year.

Kim did not answer the reporter's questions such as whether the merger ratio was justified.

The prosecution suspects that Samsung C & T has deliberately lowered the company's value by reducing its performance, including winning overseas construction orders, in order to create a favorable merger ratio for Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong.

Samsung C & T announced that it won the 2 trillion won order for the basic construction of Qatar combined cycle power plant on May 13, 2017 after the merger resolution.

In the first half of 2015, the number of new homes was about 300 households, but after the merger, it will supply 1,994 homes to Seoul.

Samsung C & T's sales for the first six months of 2015 were 12,280 billion won, down 11% from the same period last year.

The share price did not rise unlike other builders in 2015, but has continued to fall since mid-April.

At the time, the merger ratio 1 (Cheil Industries) to 0.35 (Samsung C & T) was determined based on the stock price just one month before the board of directors in accordance with the Capital Markets Act.

The prosecution is also looking at the inflated situation of Cheil Industries' asset value, which Lee had a 23.2% stake in, contrary to Samsung C & T.

The representative land price of Cheil Industries' Everland land (the land on which price is based) has risen by up to 370% in 2015.

The prosecution suspects that Samsung has moved affiliates at the group level in order to smoothly inherit the vice chairman Lee Cheil Industries' largest shareholder.

Starting with Kim, he will summon the heads of the group including Jang Choong-gi (66), Deputy Director of Future Strategies, and Choi Ji-sung (69), President of Future Strategic Office.

The prosecution has been involved in the investigation for a year and two months after receiving the Samsung BioLogics charges of fraudulent accounting from the Securities and Futures Commission under the Financial Services Commission in November 2018.

Samsung Bio's suspicion of accounting fraud, which was the first step in the investigation of the merger and succession investigation, has virtually finished the investigation, leaving only the judicial process of Kim Tae-han (63).

The prosecution is examining ways to cover illegal activities, such as mandates and price controls, and track decision-making channels within the group and hand them to trial with those involved in accounting fraud.

However, there are concerns that the investigation may be prolonged if the members of the investigation team change, starting with prosecutor-level promotions and telegrams.