Offices of the South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. (DSME) were raided Tuesday by the country’s prosecutors within an accounting probe.
Some 150 officials have reportedly seized computer hard drives, accounting books and documents from DSME’s headquarters in Seoul and one of its shipyards on the island of Geoje, BBC reports.
The accounting probe is said to be linked to two former chief executive officers of the yard suspected of mismanagement of the company.
In line with the investigation requested by an audit committee, the officials are said to be examining whether there were any manipulations in the yard’s financial statements for 2013 and 2014, aimed at concealing the yard’s losses.
The raid coincides with the creditors’s approval of a self-rescue plan submitted by the cash-strapped Korean shipbuilder.
As disclosed, the USD 4.47 billion-worth plan would see DSME sell two of its five floating docks aimed at cutting costs and bolstering the yard’s liquidity in addition to major layoffs and wage cuts.
World Maritime News Staff