A former chief of a subsidiary of state-run power company Korea Electric Power Corp. has been booked on suspicion of providing illegal political funds to four lawmakers in return for business favors, police said Tuesday.

The former chairman of KEPCO Knowledge, Data & Network Co., only identified by his surname Kim, allegedly ordered 568 employees to provide funds to the lawmakers in exchange for helping reject a bill unfavorable to the company, the National Police Agency said.

The incumbent legislators, including Rep. Chun Soon-ok of the main opposition party, the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, allegedly took between 9.95 million won and 18.16 million won ($9,046 and $16,510) each from KEPCO KDN employees, NPA officers said.

The bill, tabled at the National Assembly in November 2011, limits subsidiaries of large companies from participating in the software business ordered by public institutions.

The law was revised as part of efforts to protect small and medium-sized companies.

KEPCO KDN, an unlisted power information technology solution provider that is wholly owned by KEPCO, would suffer big losses if the bill were passed. (Yonhap)