Anchor: As prosecutors are zeroing in on slush fund allegations of the South Korean conglomerate Lotte Group, its Chairman Shin Dong-bin apologized for causing trouble. He said that the investigation will be wrapped up soon, but investigators are determined to prove suspicions that officials of the group created massive secret funds through various merger and acquisition projects.
Our Kim In-kyung has more. 
 
Report: Prosecutors are analyzing documents and other materials they seized during their latest raid of Lotte Group offices on Tuesday.

Investigators suspect that South Korea's fifth-largest conglomerate created massive slush funds through a slew of merger and acquisition(M&A) deals.
 
In 2003, Lotte Group was the nation's seventh-largest conglomerate with revenues of 20 trillion won, or about 17 billion U.S. dollars, but by 2014, it stood at fifth place with revenues of 81 trillion won. The bulk of the M&As were conducted during the Lee Myung-bak administration between 2008 and 2012.

Lotte Group denies the slush fund allegations and says it received no favors from the government on the M&As.
 
Speaking to the media for the first time since the raids, Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin apologized for the suspicions on Tuesday during his visit to a groundbreaking ceremony for a factory in the U.S.
 
[Sound bite: Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin (Korean)]
"I am sorry to have caused trouble due to domestic issues. The investigations are extremely shocking for Lotte. I hope they are wrapped up soon."

But prosecutors are not expected to spare any efforts to prove the allegations. During the two rounds of raids into dozens of key Lotte offices, including that of Lotte Group founder Shin Kyuk-ho and his son Chairman Dong-bin’s home, some 200 investigators collected computer hard discs, account ledgers and financial transaction records. On the first raid alone, the prosecution filled two one-ton trucks with seized items.

For the chairman, the investigation is not the only concern. Shin will have to defend his control over Lotte Group at a shareholders' meeting in Japan at the end of this month. During the event, his elder brother Shin Dong-joo, the head of SDJ Corporation, is expected to try to regain control after he was ousted from the controlling position of Lotte’s Japanese operations earlier this year.
Kim In-kyung, KBS World Radio News.