14 DAY TRIAL // Earlier this month, South Korean prosecutors summoned Samsung’s vice-chairman and heir Lee Jae-yong to be questioned in a bribery probe as part of a political scandal that resulted in the South Korean president’s impeachment.
Lee Jae-yong might face a second arrest in the case, as investigators are obliged to complete their investigation by the end of February and any related arrest warrants must be requested before the probe is concluded, according to Yonhap news.
On January 19, a local court rejected the issuing of an arrest warrant for Lee Jae-yong on charges of bribery, embezzlement, and perjury. The vice-chairman was accused of giving tens of millions of dollars to a close associate of the Korean president in exchange for the state pension fund to back up a merger between two Samsung affiliates.
Lee Jae-yong dodged arrest earlier this month
The court said that the evidence wasn’t enough to prove that the money was actually given for backing up the Samsung transaction. Investigators must now find new evidence to request the second arrest warrant and they have said they’re “perfectly prepared to do so.”
Investigators have also called in several people associated with the president’s friend and found evidence that he was promised a new expensive horse, which is against former statements that Samsung’s heir was coerced by the president to give up the money.
The South Korean High Prosecutor’s Office is currently trying to prove that Lee paid $37 million to several organizations connected to President Park’s associate, which directly influenced the Samsung and Cheil Industries' merger in 2015.
More information on the matter will surely surface soon, as investigators rush to wrap up the case and request a second arrest warrant for Samsung’s heir. This case could be followed by other similar investigations into corporations in the country and their connection to the political world.