Cops seek arrest warrant for Samsung heir Lee Jae-Yong during South Korea corruption probe
Super-rich business mogul accused of bribery, embezzlement and perjury
COPS are seeking an arrest warrant for the heir to the Samsung empire over a scandal that has already seen South Korea's president impeached.
Samsung, the world's largest smartphone maker, is reeling from the huge embarrassment over its Galaxy Note 7 - which was recalled after some devices caught fire and is estimated to have cost the company billions.
Now prosecutors investigating a corruption scandal in South Korea have asked a court to issue an arrest warrant for Lee Jae-Yong, the only son of Samsung group chairman Lee Kun-Hee.
The Seoul Central District Court said it would rule on the request on Wednesday after Lee was grilled in a 22-hour nonstop interview with police last week.
Prosecutors believe Samsung may have been paying the government to sneak through a merger of two of its companies.
And despite Samsung's revenue being hugely important to the state, prosecutors are insistent that "achieving justice is more important".
The scion is vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, the firm's flagship subsidiary, and the de facto head of the group after his father suffered a heart attack in 2014.
If prosecuted and convicted he could face a maximum five years in prison.
But leading South Korean businessmen have previously been given suspended terms for such offences including his dad, Lee.
The announcement sent the share price of Samsung Electronics falling 2.14 percent, shaving billions off its market capitalisation.
Samsung is already trying to repair an image tarnished by the Note 7 recall crisis after handsets began exploding in people's hands.
It was recently revealed by The Sun that Samsung's waterproof phones were not covered by water damage in their warranty and that Brits had been forced to fork out for repairs despite adverts that showed customers leaping into swimming pools with the devices.
"This is a big crisis for us," Yonhap news agency quoted an unnamed senior Samsung executive as saying. "We have to make aggressive investment and merger and acquisition decisions to race ahead of competitors.
"But we are afraid that the latest development would cause great delays in our decision-making process."
The political scandal centres on President Park Geun-Hye's secret confidante Choi Soon-Sil.
Choi is accused of using her ties with the president to coerce top local firms into ";donating" nearly $70 million to dubious non-profit foundations which Choi then used as her personal ATMs, in exchange for political favours.
Samsung is the single biggest contributor to the foundations and separately paid Choi millions of euros, allegedly to bankroll her daughter's equestrian training in Germany.
Lee, 48, who was questioned in a marathon 22-hour session last week, is accused of bribery and embezzlement for approving decisions to pay Choi 43 billion won ($36.4 million), and of perjury at a parliamentary hearing, the prosecution spokesman said.
In a statement Samsung said the prosecutors' decision was "hard to understand".
"There was no support that sought something in return," it said.
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Prosecutors are probing whether Samsung's payments were aimed at securing government approval for a 2015 merger of two of its units.
The merger of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T was seen as a key step towards ensuring a smooth third-generation power transfer to Lee.
It was opposed by many investors who said it wilfully undervalued Samsung C&T's shares. But it was backed by the National Pension Service, a major Samsung shareholder.
Former welfare minister Moon Hyung-Pyo was formally charged Monday with abuse of power for allegedly pressuring the fund's managers to approve the deal.
Park was impeached by parliament last month, and the constitutional court is deciding whether to uphold the decision.
Choi, who is currently on trial for coercion and abuse of power, appeared at its proceedings for the first time on Monday.
She choked with emotion at one point and denied seeking any financial favours using her presidential connections.
Choi admitted visiting the presidential Blue House several times to help Park handle "personal matters" and had shared an e-mail account with a senior presidential aide to edit some of Park's speeches.
But she insisted she had no role over the Samsung merger: "It's way too complicated for me."
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