S Korea prosecutors seek arrest of Samsung heir

AFP, SEOUL:  South Korean prosecutors yesterday sought the arrest of the heir to giant conglomerate Samsung for bribery in connection with a political scandal that has seen President Park Geun-Hye impeached.
Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, is already reeling from the international debacle over its Galaxy Note 7, which was recalled after some devices caught fire.
In a statement, prosecutors investigating the political scandal said they asked a Seoul court to issue an arrest warrant for Lee Jae-Yong, the son of the Samsung group chairman Lee Kun-Hee.
Samsung—the South’s biggest business group by revenue, which is equivalent to a fifth of the country’s GDP—has dozens of units including flagship Samsung Electronics.
Lee’s arrest could have an “important” impact on the South Korean economy, a spokesman for the prosecutors acknowledged. “But we believe that achieving justice is more important,” he told reporters.
The scandal centres on Park’s secret confidante Choi Soon-Sil, who is accused of using her ties with the president to coerce top local firms into “donating” nearly $70 million to dubious non-profit foundations which Choi then used as her personal ATMs, in exchange for political favours.
Samsung is the single biggest contributor to the foundations and separately paid Choi millions of euros, allegedly to bankroll her daughter’s equestrian training in Germany.
Lee, 48, is the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics and is accused of approving decisions to pay Choi large sums of money in a bid to win political favours.
Samsung’s bribes totalled 43 billion won ($36.4 million), the prosecution spokesman said, adding Lee was also accused of embezzlement for spending corporate funds for bribery.
In addition, he faces charges of perjury after he told a parliamentary hearing that he did not seek any preferential treatment in return for donations.
The Seoul Central District Court said it would rule on the prosecutors’ request on Wednesday. 
If it approves the move, Lee—who was questioned by prosecutors for a marathon 22-hour session last week—will be the first senior executive arrested in connection with the scandal.
In a statement Samsung said the prosecutors’ decision to seek his arrest was “hard to understand”.
“There was no support that sought something in return,” it said. “We believe that a court will make a good judgement on this.”
‘Personal matters’ 
Prosecutors are in particular probing whether Samsung’s donations and payment to Choi were aimed at securing government approval for a controversial deal it sought in 2015.

 

S Korea prosecutors seek arrest of Samsung heir

AFP, SEOUL: South Korean prosecutors yesterday sought the arrest of the heir to giant conglomerate Samsung for bribery in connection with a political scandal that has seen President Park Geun-Hye impeached. Samsung, the worlds largest smartphone maker, is already reeling from the international debacle over its Galaxy Note 7, which was recalled after some devices caught fire. In a statement, prosecutors investigating the political scandal said they asked a Seoul court to issue an arrest warrant for Lee Jae-Yong, the son of the Samsung group chairman Lee Kun-Hee. Samsungthe Souths biggest business group by revenue, which is equivalent to a fifth of the countrys GDPhas dozens of units including flagship Samsung Electronics. Lees arrest could have an important impact on the South Korean economy, a spokesman for the prosecutors acknowledged. But we believe that achieving justice is more important, he told reporters. The scandal centres on Parks secret confidante Choi Soon-Sil, who is accused of using her ties with the president to coerce top local firms into donating nearly $70 million to dubious non-profit foundations which Choi then used as her personal ATMs, in exchange for political favours. Samsung is the single biggest contributor to the foundations and separately paid Choi millions of euros, allegedly to bankroll her daughters equestrian training in Germany. Lee, 48, is the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics and is accused of approving decisions to pay Choi large sums of money in a bid to win political favours. Samsungs bribes totalled 43 billion won ($36.4 million), the prosecution spokesman said, adding Lee was also accused of embezzlement for spending corporate funds for bribery. In addition, he faces charges of perjury after he told a parliamentary hearing that he did not seek any preferential treatment in return for donations. The Seoul Central District Court said it would rule on the prosecutors request on Wednesday. If it approves the move, Leewho was questioned by prosecutors for a marathon 22-hour session last weekwill be the first senior executive arrested in connection with the scandal. In a statement Samsung said the prosecutors decision to seek his arrest was hard to understand. There was no support that sought something in return, it said. We believe that a court will make a good judgement on this. Personal matters Prosecutors are in particular probing whether Samsungs donations and payment to Choi were aimed atsecuring government approval for a controversial deal it sought in 2015.