South Korean prosecutors seek arrest warrant for Samsung heir over accounting fraud case

South Korean prosecutors are seeking an arrest warrant for Jay Y. Lee, vice chairman of Samsung and two other former employees of the company over an alleged accounting fraud. Prosecutors suspect that Lee inflated the value of one of his companies before merging it with Samsung C&T. Lee was the biggest shareholder in Cheil Industries, an electronic components provider before it merged with Samsung in 2015. 

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Lee was sentenced to 5 years in prison in 2017 after he was found guilty on charges of corruption but was released in 2018 by an appeals court. The arrest of Lee was prompted by an impeachment of the then South Korean President Park Geun-Hye. Park was arrested and sentenced to 25 years in prison over charges of bribery, abuse of power and embezzlement charges. Prosecutors believed that Lee had bribed Park before the controversial merger of the two companies. 

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Lee's apology

Jay Y. Lee recently issued a public apology for his company's role in the 2017 scandal that shook South Korea and has also promised to not pass the company's control on to his children. Speaking at a briefing in Samsung headquarters in Seoul, Lee admitted his wrong conduct in the past and pledged not to misuse his powers in the future.

Read: Samsung Heir Lee Apologises For Succession Scandal, Won't Pass Company Control To Children