South Korean prosecutors on Tuesday said Samsung group chief Lee Jae-Yong and four others had been indicted on charges of corruption and bribery. The development makes it almost certain that will face trial, AFP reported. The South Korean firm is still recovering from a controversy over faulty devices that led to a major global recall.
The prosecutors’ spokesperson said Lee, who now goes by Jay Y Lee, was also accused of perjury. He has repeatedly denied the charges against him. The special prosecutors announced their decision one day before they were supposed to transfer the case back to state prosecutors after the government rejected a request to extend their inquiry.
Minutes after the indictment announcement, Samsung released a five-line statement specifying a “reform plan”. The firm said three of the accused, not including Lee, had stepped down from their positions within the conglomerate. The electronics giant said it was “dismantling its future strategy office”, which supervises major decisions including acquisitions or new businesses.
The new plan allows Samsung units to function more “independently and more transparently”. The news agency quoted Chung Sun-Sup, the head of private monitoring group - chaebol.com, who said,
The South Korean firm’s revenues are equivalent to a fifth of the country’s gross domestic product.
South Korea began the investigation into a corruption case surrounding former President Park Geun-hye and her friend Choi Soon-sil. Lee had allegedly paid bribes worth 43 billion won (more than Rs 200 crore) to organisations with links to Choi Soon-sil. He had allegedly done it to ensure the merger of two company affiliates as well as his control of the family business – he became the de facto head of the Samsung Group after his father was incapacitated by a heart attack in 2014.
State prosecutors will now investigate the involvement of other conglomerates including Hyundai Motor and Lotte Group in the corruption case, the spokesperson said. The special prosecutors indicted a total of 31 people, including 17 of them on Tuesday.
Samsung Electronics shares closed 1% higher on Tuesday.
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