Seoul: South Korean prosecutors will question Lee Jae-yong, Samsung Group’s de facto leader again on Monday over bribery allegations, as they accelerate their probe into a corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her friend. The summons, will be the first questioning of Lee, the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., since a Seoul court rejected the prosecutors’ request on January 19 to arrest him on charges of bribery, embezzlement and perjury, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The probe team, led by Independent Counsel Park Young-soo, first quizzed him over the charges on January 12. Investigators have suspected that Lee gave or promised some 43 billion won ($36 million) worth of bribes to Park’s jailed friend Choi Soon-sil in return for the state-run pension fund’s backing of a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015.
They have hinted that the president ordered other favours be offered to the conglomerate that was giving her friend large sums of cash. The President has rejected any wrongdoing in regards to the merger. The special counsel also plans to question Samsung Electronics President Park Sang-jin and Hwang Sung-soo, another executive of the conglomerate on Monday in relation to the scandal.
