Indie counsel to grill Samsung’s Lee again

Special prosecutors plan to question Lee Jae-yong, Samsung Group’s de facto leader, again over bribery allegations this week, as they accelerate their probe into a corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her friend.

The summons, set for Monday at 9:30 a.m., will be the first questioning of Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co., since a Seoul court rejected the prosecutors’ request on Jan. 19 to arrest him on charges of bribery, embezzlement and perjury.

The probe team, led by independent counsel Park Young-soo, first quizzed Lee over the charges on Jan. 12.

“We plan to question vice chairman Lee on additional bribery charges,” Lee Kyu-chul, the probe team’s spokesman, told reporters during a regular briefing.

“Since the request for an arrest warrant against Lee was rejected, we have carried out additional investigations over the last three weeks. We need to confirm additional (evidence) we have discovered by summoning him,” the official added.

YONHAP