SAMSUNG Group heir Jay Y. Lee yesterday arrived at a South Korean court, which will rule whether he will be sent back to jail after more than two years of freedom, as new allegations dog the executive and cast a pall over the country’s top conglomerate. Prosecutors asked the court to issue an arrest warrant against Lee, culminating a probe into accounting fraud and a controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates that they said helped facilitate Lee’s plan to assume greater control of the group. Lee, 51, wearing a face mask and a dark suit, appeared at the Seoul court for a hearing. He did not answer questions from reporters before entering the court. After the hearing, he is expected to head to a detention center to await the judge’s decision. Samsung on Friday denied the allegation of stock-manipulation against Lee, saying it was “beyond common sense” to claim Lee was involved in the decision-making. In a further statement over the weekend, the group said the lengthy probe is weighing on management, which is in a “crisis” at a time when the coronavirus pandemic and U.S.-China trade disputes are adding to uncertainty. The company declined to make Lee available for comment. He served about one year in jail until Feb. 2018 for his role in a bribery scandal in which he was accused of giving horses as gifts to win support from the government of former President Park Geun-hye for the merger. The merger increased his control of the group — and of its crown jewel, Samsung Electronics, South Korea’s biggest company. His father, Lee Kun-hee, has been ailing for some time. (SD-Agencies) |