Lee Jae-yong, Seoul, South Korea.
The heir to the Samsung business empire has been arrested on corruption allegations.
Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of South Korea’s biggest conglomerate, has been under investigation as part of the huge political corruption scandal that has rocked the country.
Early Friday, a judge in Seoul approved a request from prosecutors for an arrest warrant for Lee, the prosecutor’s office said. That means Lee will be held at the detention center where he had been awaiting the court decision.
Prosecutors allege that the executive, who’s also known as Jay Y. Lee, pledged tens of millions of dollars to win favor with President Park Geun-hye and secure government support for a controversial merger that helped tighten his grip on the country’s biggest conglomerate.
They are accusing him of bribery, perjury, concealing criminal profits, embezzlement and hiding assets overseas.
Samsung and Lee have denied the allegations.
“We will do our best to ensure that the truth is revealed in future court proceedings,” Samsung said in a statement Friday after the judge approved the arrest warrant for Lee.
The prosecutors first sought to arrest Lee in January, but a judge turned down that request, citing a lack of evidence. At the time, the prosecutors vowed to “steadily” pursue their investigation of the Samsung heir.
The case is part of a far-reaching scandal that has driven hundreds of thousands of South Korean protesters to the streets and prompted lawmakers to vote to impeach President Park. Other top South Korean companies are also under investigation.
Samsung’s links to the corruption investigation have done further damage to the company’s image after the humiliating fiasco over its fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 smartphone last year.
Lee is far from the first South Korean business leader to face accusations of corruption. His father, Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee, was convicted twice — and pardoned twice.
— BoBin Seo contributed to this report.
