Korean court approves arrest warrant for Samsung head Jay Y. Lee

Posted:
in General Discussion edited February 2017
South Korea's Central District Court has approved an arrest warrant for the acting head of the Samsung Group, Jay Y. Lee, a report indicated on Thursday.




At the same time, the court has rejected a warrant for the company's president, Park Sang-jin, Reuters said. Warrants for both executives were requested by a special prosecutor's office on Tuesday.

Lee has been implicated in the widening corruption scandal surrounding the country's President, Park Geun-hye, and her close friend Choi Soon-sil. When it petitioned for a warrant, the prosecutor's office accused Lee of bribery, perjury, embezzlement, and hiding assets overseas.

In particular Samsung is accused of funneling $37.31 million to a business and several organizations backed by Choi with the hope of her supporting the merger of two Samsung affiliates. This included supporting the equestrian career of Choi's daughter -- Park Sang-jin, significantly, is the head of the Korea Equestrian Federation.

The special prosecutor first sought a warrant for Lee in January, but was shot down by Central District Court Judge Cho Eui-yeon, who questioned "the necessity and substantiality of an arrest at the current stage."

The executive's arrest is likely to be disruptive for the Samsung Group as a whole, especially as Lee has been more of a stand-in leader following his father's 2014 heart attack. Officially he's the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, which competes with Apple via products like the upcoming Galaxy S8.

Individually the Electronics unit should be able to continue on without many short-term problems, since devices like the S8 are already in the pipeline.

While Samsung is Apple's chief competition in the mobile space, the two companies have been mutually dependent for years in terms of supply. Apple has reportedly signed a $4.3 billion deal for 5-inch OLED screens, likely destined for an "iPhone X" or "iPhone 8" shipping later this year.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    JinTechJinTech Posts: 1,020member
    Huge.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 12
    I said things were changing here and that he was more than likely going to face charges. 
    calipatchythepiratewatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 12
    Looks like his future is going up in flames.

    Wait.
    watto_cobramagman1979
  • Reply 4 of 12
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    Burned!
    watto_cobramagman1979
  • Reply 5 of 12
    This is the kind of person, company, and corporate culture that Apple has to compete against. It's like having to get into a fist fight with one hand tied behind your back.

    Kudos to the S. Korean authorities for taking a hard line on this, and not hesitating to make an example of (arguably) the most important company in that country. Whether it actually roots out corruption or not, it sends an unambiguous signal the costs for such behavior have been raised.
    edited February 2017 watto_cobrabadmonk
  • Reply 6 of 12
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,241member
    This is the kind of person, company, and corporate culture that Apple has to compete against. It's like having to get into a fist fight with one had tied behind your back.

    Kudos to the S. Korean authorities for taking a hard line on this, and not hesitating to make an example of (arguably) the most important company in that country. Whether it actually roots out corruption or not, it sends an unambiguous signal the costs for such behavior have been raised.
    And the kind of company every big box store in the US loves to stock with their products. I'm tired of seeing Samsung products everywhere I look. Americans are simply enabling the bad behavior of Samsung, company and leadership.
    watto_cobramagman1979badmonk
  • Reply 7 of 12
    F##king loser!
    king editor the gratewatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 12
    cornchipcornchip Posts: 1,945member
    Nothing like some good old fashioned Korean nepotism.
    watto_cobrabadmonk
  • Reply 9 of 12
    They should break Samsung up. Their size is a problem as it keeps breeding corruption. 
    canadiandudewatto_cobrabadmonk
  • Reply 10 of 12
    evilutionevilution Posts: 1,399member
    Samsung obviously stopped paying their bribe money.
    canadiandudewatto_cobrabadmonk
  • Reply 11 of 12
    It is incredibly impressive that the South Korean government is able to do this.

    i hope the forces fighting corruption in other countries can follow this example. 

    badmonk
  • Reply 12 of 12
    evilution said:
    Samsung obviously stopped paying their bribe money.
    uh ... no, that is why they are in this problem. 
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