Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jay Y Lee was called for questioning by South Korea’s special prosecutors over allegations that the country’s biggest conglomerate paid bribes to gain support for a merger of affiliates.
Special prosecutors, who have been investigating the country’s influence-peddling scandal, summoned the de facto head of Samsung Group to appear at 9.30am in Seoul on Thursday, special prosecution spokesman Lee Kyu-chul said in a briefing.
The news is another blow to Samsung Electronics after the Galaxy Note7 smartphone debacle last year that is estimated to cost more than US$6bn.
Lee is being summoned as a suspect of bribery allegations.
Prosecutors are investigating whether Samsung made payments to entities controlled by Choi Soon-sil, a confidant of President Park Geun-hye, to win support for the contentious merger of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T in 2015.
Two other top Samsung executives were called in on Monday to answer questions about the company’s role in a probe that has already led to Park’s impeachment.
Korea has been in the grip of a presidential scandal for months, with millions taking to the streets to demand her ouster. The investigation has spread to the business community. Samsung Electronics offices were searched and billionaire Lee joined eight other chaebol leaders to face questions from parliament and prosecutors.
Samsung and its top management have been accused of providing support to Choi, a life-long friend of Park, along with her daughter in exchange for helping ensure a smooth transfer of power to Lee at the conglomerate.
A representative for Samsung declined to comment.
In December, Lee and the other business tycoons were questioned by lawmakers, with the billionaire saying he never ordered donations to be made in return for preferential measures and rejected allegations he received wrongful government support to push through the merger. Still, Lee, who has been put under a travel ban, confirmed his private meetings with Park and that Samsung had provided a horse worth a billion won ($837 000) that was used for equestrian lessons by Choi’s daughter.
The merger of Cheil and C&T was opposed by activist Paul Elliott Singer and only succeeded by a narrow margin, thanks to the support of Korea’s National Pension Service.
The special prosecutors have previously arrested Moon Hyung-pyo, the former chairman of the pension service. Moon has been suspected of pressuring the fund to support the merger. — (c) 2017 Bloomberg LP
