Earlier this week, Samsung Electronics vice chairman Lee Jae-yong was summoned once again by South Korea's special prosecutor's office where he was questioned for more than 15 hours as part of an ongoing investigation into the country's influence-peddling scandal. Samsung is accused of paying more than $35 million in bribes to win the government's influence.
The allegations have been denied by the company previously and while prosecutors have tried to get an arrest warrant for the top executive, a Seoul court shot down the request last month for lack of evidence. The prosecutor's office submitted another request for an arrest warrant earlier this year after it said that additional evidence had been secured against the Samsung leader and that charges of concealing criminal profits and hiding assets overseas have now been added to the charge sheet as well.
Lee Jae-yong arrived in a Seoul court earlier today to attend the second arrest warrant hearing. The decision is not expected to be handed down until Friday. If the request is approved, Lee potentially faces months in jail awaiting trial which would lead to a serious leadership vacuum at Samsung.
