Prosecutors raided the offices of South Korea's retail giant Lotte and major conglomerate SK Group on Thursday over allegations they donated large sums of money to two nonprofit foundations controlled by a close friend of President Park Geun-hye in return for business favors.

The prosecution team looking into the scandal surrounding Park and her friend said it raided 10 places, including Lotte's corporate headquarters in central Seoul and SK SUPEX Council, the group's top decision-making body comprised of chiefs of each affiliate.

The team is known to have confiscated computer hard drives and documents related to the groups' duty-free businesses. (Yonhap)