Reuters-Samsung Group
leader Jay Y. Lee left the South Korean special prosecutor's office early on
Friday, more than 22 hours after arriving for questioning on bribery
suspicions
in an influence-peddling scandal that could topple President Park Geun-hye.
Lee left the
special prosecution office without answering reporters' questions and headed to
a waiting car.
Prosecutors
have been investigating whether Samsung provided 30 billion won ($25.46
million) to a business and foundations backed by Park's friend, Choi Soon-sil,
in exchange for the national pension fund's support for a 2015 merger of two
Samsung affiliates.
A spokesman
said the special prosecutor's office would decide "soon" whether to
seek a warrant to arrest the 48-year-old Lee, the third-generation leader of
South Korea's largest conglomerate, or chaebol. There were no plans to bring
him in for further questioning.
Lee denied
some of the suspicions against him but had admitted to others, said Lee
Kyu-chul, a spokesman for the special prosecutors' office who declined to
elaborate.
A Samsung
spokeswoman declined to comment.
The corruption
scandal has engulfed the highest reaches of South Korea's elite, with Park
impeached by parliament in December, a decision that must be upheld or
overturned by the Constitutional Court. Park, who has been stripped of her
powers in the meantime, has denied wrongdoing.
Jay Y. Lee was
named as a suspect on Wednesday and summoned on Thursday morning for
questioning.
Prosecutors
were looking into whether he gave false testimony during a parliamentary
hearing in early December, where the heads of nine of South Korea's biggest
chaebol were subjected to an unprecedented 13-hour televised grilling by a
panel investigating the presidential scandal.
Jay Y. Lee
denied bribery accusations during that hearing, rejecting assertions from
lawmakers that Samsung lobbied to get the fund to back the merger.
Shares in
group flagship Samsung Electronics, the world's largest smartphone maker, were
down about 2.5 percent on Friday.
EQUESTRIAN
CONNECTION
The special
prosecution also questioned Park Sang-jin, a president at Samsung Electronics,
for about 13 hours until early on Friday.
Park Sang-jin
had signed a contract for Samsung Electronics in 2015 to sponsor an equestrian
team, the main beneficiary of which was the daughter of President Park's friend
Choi, a key figure in the scandal who is in detention and undergoing a criminal
trial. Choi has denied wrongdoing.
Her daughter,
20-year-old Chung Yoo-ra, was arrested by Danish police early this month after
she was sought by South Korean authorities. Chung, who won a gold medal in
group dressage at the 2014 Asian Games, has denied wrongdoing.
Park Sang-jin,
who had refused to appear at parliamentary hearings on the matter citing health
issues, did not comment to reporters as he left the prosecutors' office at
about 3 a.m. (1900 GMT Thursday) wearing a white face mask.
Two other
Samsung Group executives were questioned by special prosecutors on Monday and
released.
Samsung has
acknowledged making payments to two foundations at the center of the scandal,
as well as to a consulting firm controlled by Choi, but has repeatedly denied
accusations of lobbying to push through the controversial 2015 merger of
affiliates Samsung C&T Corp and Cheil Industries Inc.
Dozens of
South Korean corporate groups made contributions totaling 77.4 billion won
($65.75 million) to two foundations that were set up to back President Park's
initiatives, but Samsung's donations were the largest.
Late last
month, the head of South Korea's National Pension Service, the world's
third-largest pension fund, was arrested after he acknowledged that he had
pressured the fund to approve the $8 billion merger between the two Samsung
Group [SAGR.UL] affiliates while he was head of the health ministry, reversing
an earlier public denial.
Reuters
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