The South Korean special prosecutor’s office is considering the arrest of Samsung’s leader, Jay Y. Lee, as part of an investigation into $33.85 million worth of payments made by Samsung to a business and foundations backed by a friend of impeached President Park Geun-hye. The friend in question, Choi Soon-sil, has been charged with bribery.
The payments were allegedly made in return for the national pension fund’s support for a merger of Samsung C&T Corp and Cheil Industries Inc back in 2015.
As reported by Reuters, Lee was named a suspect on Wednesday, and summoned early Thursday morning for questioning.
Lee denied bribery accusations during a parliamentary hearing in December, and now the special prosecutor’s office want to know if this testimony was false. Samsung has admitted to making contributions to two foundations under Choi’s control.
National Pension Service chief Moon Hyung-pyo did admit to pressuring the fund to approve the merger while he was health minister.
[Reuters]