South Korean authorities seek arrest of Samsung head Lee Jae-yong (Update)

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Samsung'due south troubles with the Note 7 this by summer may shortly stake in comparing to its well-nigh recent crunch.

On Monday morning, prosecutors in South Korea asked a courtroom to grant them an abort warrant for Lee Jae-yong, the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics and heir apparent to the entire Samsung business empire. Lee stands accused of embezzlement and bribery charges related to the ongoing scandal involving South Korea'southward impeached president, Park Geun-hye.

"Nosotros can't accept the prosecutor'southward argument that we fabricated illegal requests associated with the merger and management succession"

Lee and visitor allegedly paid out more than than $36 1000000 USD in bribes to Choi Soon-sil, a controversial shut confidant of the disgraced president, in an try to secure the government'due south support for a merger between two Samsung subsidiaries, Cheil Industries Inc. and Samsung C&T Corp.

Lee is the son of current Samsung chairman Lee Kun-kee. The elder Lee was hospitalized in 2014 afterwards suffering a heart attack, and while it's assumed Jae-yong is the caput of Samsung in all just name, Due south Korean business tradition dictates he can't officially have on his father's title until the latter passes abroad. Should Lee Jae-yong get arrested, a court will decide on Wednesday whether to grant prosecutors the arrest warrant, it will likely send Samsung, equally well as Korea, into shock.

Samsung has since denied the claim, stating, "We can't accept the prosecutor's argument that nosotros fabricated illegal requests associated with the merger and management succession."

Update 2017/1/eighteen: A South Korean courtroom has rejected prosecutors request for an arrest warrant for Lee Jae-yong, reports CNBC.

More to come up…

[source]Bloomberg[/source]