Samsung Heir Summoned for Questioning in Succession Probe
- Prosecutors called in the billionaire Samsung vice chairman
- Scandals over succession at chaebols have inflamed the country
South Korean prosecutors have summoned Samsung Electronics Co. Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee for questioning in an ongoing investigation into alleged accounting fraud and a controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates, dealing another legal blow to the country’s largest corporation.
While expected, the decision marked a deepening of a long-running probe into the billionaire scion and his shipbuilding-to-smartphones Samsung Group conglomerate. The company’s de-facto leader was called into Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office at 8 a.m. local time Tuesday in relation to allegations over illegal acts in succession plans, the Yonhap News Agency reported. The summons came after the executive publicly apologized over his company’s role in scandals over his succession, which eventually led to the impeachment of former president Park Geun-hye. A spokesman at the agency confirmed Lee has been summoned, without elaborating.