The prosecution team that is looking into the corruption scandal involving South Korean President Park Geun-hye and Samsung's heir apparent Jay Y. Lee will probably request another arrest warrant against the latter. This has been a political scandal of epic proportions in South Korea.
The Samsung heir avoided going into custody on Jan. 19 according to Phone Arena, as a local court determined that there is no need to detain him because Lee is already barred from leaving the country. Jay Y. Lee allegedly wired about $36 million from Samsung to two foundations set up by the South Korean President's close friend, Choi Soon-sil.
Reportedly, the money was paid to get favor from the state pension fund, which supported a merger between two Samsung affiliates in 2015. The court dismissed the previous request for the arrest of Lee, declaring that it is hard to find a reason, necessity, and appropriateness for the arrest.
An official statement from Samsung explained that the money transfer wasn't related to the merger, but the prosecution team has been gathering more evidence related to the corruption scandal. Hwang Sung-soo, a senior Samsung Electronics executive, was called in for questioning over Samsung's involvement in supporting Choi Soon-sil's daughter, Chung Yoo-ra.
The final stage of the investigation into political corruption in South Korea includes interrogating President Park who is currently awaiting impeachment according to Android Headlines. The prosecution team gathered evidence that Samsung tried to bribe Chung by promising her an expensive new horse which contrasts Samsung's claim that it was strong-armed into doing "donations" of any kind.
Prosecutors have summoned President Park Geun-hye for a face-to-face investigation early next month. Prosecutors hope that the new information at their disposal will be enough to convince the court to incarcerate Lee.
