Samsung heir questioned for 15 hours, prosecutors to decide on arrest by tomorrow

South Korea's special prosecutor's office confirmed on Sunday that it would once again summon Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong for questioning as part of an ongoing investigation into the influence-peddling scandal. Even though a court has previously shot down the prosecutor's request for an arrest warrant, a second request was not ruled out. Lee Jae-yong was questioned for more than 15 hours after being summoned by the special prosecution yesterday and the prosecutor's office will decide by tomorrow whether it's going to seek his arrest once again.

“There will be a decision on whether to make another arrest warrant request for him between today and tomorrow,” special prosecutor's office spokesman Lee Kyu-chul confirmed to reporters earlier today in a press briefing. The office is also going to decide at the same time whether it's going to seek arrest warrants for four other Samsung Group executives.

Samsung heir apparent Lee Jae-yong is accused of pledging payments to organizations backed by President Park Geun-hye's friend Choi Soon-sil to win the government's support for a controversial merger between two Samsung affiliates back in 2015. The Samsung leader has previously denied allegations of corruption.

Adnan Farooqui - Executive Editor

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Adnan Farooqui is a long-term writer at SamMobile. Based in Pakistan, his interests include technology, finance, Swiss watches and Formula 1. His tendency to write long posts betrays his inclination to being a man of few words.

Via Business Lee Jae-yong