Yonhap reported that South Korea's largest automaker Hyundai Motor Co has called for criminal investigations on three bank officials overseeing the sale of a construction company for breach of trust.

The automaker also said that it will soon bring a KRW 50 billion compensation suit against the three officials and Korea Exchange Bank for failure to reject a faulty, if not illegal, bid by a rival company to take over Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co.

KEB and other creditors of Hyundai Engineering named Hyundai Group as the prime bidder for a 34.88% stake in the builder. The decision left Hyundai Motor's led by Mr Chung Mong koo, which was considered to be the favorite to buy the construction company, shocked.

KEB's decision, however, immediately sparked suspicion since Hyundai Group said KRW 1.2 trillion of its KRW 5.51 trillion bid offer will come from a French subsidiary whose entire asset is estimated at only some KRW 3.3 billion.

Hyundai Motor has declared the bid void, claiming the money from the group's French unit must be a loan and that the group must have offered the construction company it now seeks to purchase as collateral for such a large loan, which is illegal under the country's law.

Mr Hyundai Group, headed by Mr Chung's widowed sister in law, Ms Hyun Jeong eun, has countered that the loan is a legitimate business arrangement and that it had nothing to do with the construction company.

In its suit against the KEB officials, Hyundai Motor claimed Hyundai Group was selected the prime bidder only because the bank officials failed to do their duty.

It said that "The three executives violated their duty by not demanding and reviewing documents from Hyundai Group regarding its KRW 1.2 trillion loan though they had an obligation to make the entire process transparent."

Hyundai Motor, on the other hand, has been sued by Hyundai Group on an account of defamation.

(Sourced from www.yonhapnews.co.kr)