Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong arrested for bribery, perjury and embezzlement

Early this morning, Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman, and current acting head, of Samsung, was arrested and taken to Seoul Detention Centre on charges of bribery, perjury and embezzlement. 

While Lee's title is Vice Chairman, he has run the company since his father, Chairman Lee Kun-hee, was hospitalized in 2014.

South Korean newspaper Yonhap News reports that the arrest is the result of a second writ for an arrest warrant and that it includes charges of hiding criminal proceeds and violating laws pertaining to transferring assets abroad. A court statement said "It is acknowledged that it is necessary to arrest [Lee Jae-Yong] in light of a newly added criminal charge and new evidence."

Investigators believe that Lee  is involved in the corruption scandal that lead to last year's impeachment of South Korean President Park Geun-hye. Prosecutors also claim that Samsung paid a total of over 43 billion won (~S$52.4 million) in bribes to organizations linked to a presidential advisor and friend, Choi Soon-sil, who has been in custody since November 2016. The money was allegedly designed to foster governmental approval for the merger of two Samsung units.

According to Bloomberg, Lee will stay in a detention center until the proceedings are over, which could take as long as 18 months for a trial and verdict to be reached.

Source: Yonhap News, Bloomberg

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