Prosecutors have named the heir to the Samsung empire as a suspect in the massive corruption scandal that has rocked South Korea.
Samsung Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who is expected to succeed his ailing father at the top of the country’s biggest conglomerate, has been summoned for questioning over suspicions that include bribery, the prosecutors’ office said Wednesday.
The widening scandal has brought about unprecedented scrutiny of the ties between South Korea’s political and business elites. It’s set off huge street protests and prompted lawmakers to vote last month to impeach President Park Geun-hye.
Samsung’s deepening links to the corruption investigation have further hurt the company’s image after the humiliating fiasco over its fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 smartphone last year.
Lee and other top South Korean business leaders have faced questions over donations their companies made to two foundations controlled by Choi Soon-sil, a confidante of Park. Prosecutors say the payments were made in return for political favors — an allegation the business leaders have denied.
Samsung declined to comment on the announcement that Lee is now a suspect in the investigation into the scandal.
During a public grilling by lawmakers last month, Lee denied any wrongdoing. He said that Park didn’t directly ask him to support foundations linked to Choi and that he was unaware of Samsung’s payments to them.
But prosecutors are investigating whether the company made the payments in order to secure backing for a contentious merger in 2015 that helped Lee strengthen his control over Samsung Electronics, a key part of the family’s sprawling business empire.
South Korea’s National Pension Service was a major shareholder in one of the Samsung subsidiaries involved in the merger. Its vote was crucial in ensuring the deal went through in the face of vigorous opposition from a U.S.-based activist hedge fund.
The public pension fund’s offices have been raided as part of the corruption investigation. A former cabinet minister was arrested last month on charges that he pressured the fund to approve the Samsung merger.
Lee’s elderly father, Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, suffered a heart attack in 2014, which accelerated succession planning.
— Stella Kim contributed to this report.