Samsung heir Jay Lee arrested following bribery allegations

Samsung chief Jay Y. Lee was arrested Friday morning for his alleged role in a corruption scandal involving South Korea’s president. The list of charges against Lee includes embezzlement, bribery, perjury, concealment of criminal proceeds, and illicit transfer of assets overseas.

The 48-year-old, vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, was taken into custody at the Seoul Detention Centre, where he had awaited the court’s decision following a day-long closed-door hearing that ended on Thursday evening.

In rejecting the first attempt to arrest Lee last month, the court cited a lack of evidence. His grandfather, Lee Byung-chul, was the founder of the Samsung Group, and had faced smuggling charges but was not arrested.

He has been the de facto Samsung head after his father Lee Kun Hee, Samsung’s former chairman, was hospitalized in 2014 following a heart attack. In filing for the second warrant, the counsel expanded the charges against Lee to include diverting assets overseas and concealing the gains from a criminal act.

According to Yonhap, the Samsung Group is alleged to have signed a 22 billion won (US$18.3 million) contract with a Germany-based company owned by Choi Soon-il, a confidante of Park, and her daughter, under a consulting arrangement to pay for the daughter’s equestrian training.

A fourth group insider said: “We have a system in place with professional management teams, so in terms of the day-to-day operations things should be fine”.

Lee, 48, is accused of paying nearly $36 million in bribes to President Park’s aide Choi Soo-sil, who is at the center of the country’s largest corruption scandal in recent history. These alleged bribes are said to have totaled almost $38 million, and were allegedly made in exchange for the government looking favorably upon a Samsung business merger. Although he admitted making political donations to Ms Park, he denied that they were aimed at getting any business favours in return.

Lee has denied any wrongdoing in the case, maintaining that he never willingly made bribes for preferential government treatment. If the constitutional court decides to uphold the impeachment, he will become the country’s first leader to face such a fate.

A warrant has been issued for Samsung vice chair Jay Y. Lee after all.

Lee’s incarceration comes as Samsung Electronics tries to get past the disastrous rollout previous year of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, which were prone to fires.