A South Korean special prosecutor is again seeking to arrest Samsung Group’s Jay Y Lee in relation to allegations of bribery, dealing another blow to a business empire mired in a nationwide political corruption scandal.
Prosecutors said on Tuesday that they want Lee taken into custody, after a first attempt in January was rejected by a court due to a lack of evidence.
Samsung declined to comment.
Korea’s biggest corporation and its billionaire heir-apparent lie at the centre of an investigation into influence-peddling that’s already led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.
The probe into whether the country’s largest business group paid for political favours could complicate succession plans at Samsung, the electronics-to-finance conglomerate that’s also the economy’s biggest driver.
Lee, who was questioned by prosecutors for 15 hours on Monday, is suspected of involvement in payments that Samsung made to a close friend of Park, as Korea’s richest family sought support for a deal intended to smooth a transfer of power to Lee.
Prosecutors sought their first arrest warrant for Lee on 16 January, but this was rejected by a court days later. — (c) 2017 Bloomberg LP