South Korea Indicts 25 Entities in Largest Food Price-Fixing Case Worth 10 Trillion Won

SEOUL, April 23 (Yonhap) -- Prosecutors said Thursday they have indicted 25 entities over an eight-year starch sugar collusion scheme worth more than 10 trillion won (US$6.7 billion) that marks the country's largest food price-fixing case to date. A total of 21 employees and executives at three food companies -- Daesang, Sajo CPK and CJ Cheiljedang -- along with the three companies themselves and the head of the Korea Corn Processing Industry Association, face charges of violating the fair trade law, according to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office. The suspects are accused of fixing prices and rigging bids of starch sugar products, such as glucose syrup, and other byproducts in the local market from July 2017 to October 2025. The scheme is estimated to be valued at 10.15 trillion won. Prosecutors blamed the collusion for higher prices, noting that the price of starch rose as high as 73.4 percent and the price of sugar products by up to 63.8 percent over the cited period. In February, prosecutors raided the sugar companies over the allegations before filing for arrest warrants for the chief executives of Daesang and Sajo CPK and another Daesang executive last month. A court issued the warrant for the Daesang executive but denied warrants for the two chief executives.