South Korean police began questioning employees of the state-run Korea Land and Housing Corporation(LH) accused of engaging in land speculation in two Gyeonggi cities.

According to the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency on Friday, the questioning began at 10 a.m. and included a worker surnamed Kang, who is believed to have led the scheme.

While the police have yet to confirm the number of employees being questioned, their investigation involves 13 current and two former employees.

The police are expected to grill the suspects on whether they used internal, confidential information to purchase the properties in question, which were set to be part of a government development project.

This is the first time the investigation team has summoned suspects in the investigation and comes 17 days after civic groups first made the allegations earlier this month.