서울중앙지법, 이재용 구속영장 발부
We start with breaking news...
A local court has approved an arrest warrant for Samsung's heir apparent Lee Jae-yong in connection to the massive corruption scandal gripping Korea.
It's the first time for the head of Korea's largest business group to be embroiled in such a serious legal situation.
The development is a win for the independent counsel,... which has requested a 30-day-extension for its investigation, saying it needs more time to untangle the threads of the case.
Our Hwang Hojun reports.
After an agonizing wait at the Seoul Detention Center, Samsung heir apparent Lee Jae-yong, will now be arrested, as the Seoul Central District Court has approved an arrest warrant requested by the independent counsel team.
This was the team's second request, which it filed on Tuesday.
The counsel expanded the charges against Lee to include diverting assets overseas and concealing the gains from a criminal act.
That's on top of the original charges of bribery, embezzlement and perjury the team filed against Lee with its first arrest warrant request that was rejected last month.
The charges stem from Samsung Group's alleged transfer of about 7 million U.S. dollars to Core Sports, a consulting firm located in Germany and owned by Choi Soon-sil, the jailed confidante of the Korean president -- allegedly without reporting the transaction.
By law, single overseas transactions of 20-thousand dollars and combined transactions of 50-thousand dollars per year must be reported to the authorities.
The Korean tech giant has also contributed nearly 38 million dollars... to entities controlled by Choi.
The independent counsel believes the money was given in exchange for support of a 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates, Samsung C&T and Cheil industries, that was deemed critical to finalizing Lee's succession to the top of Samsung Group.
Meanwhile, the independent counsel spokesperson said Thursday that the team has filed for a 30-day extension of its original 90-day investigative mandate.
It will now be up to Hwang Kyo-ahn, the prime minister and the acting president, to decide whether to grant the one-time extension.
Hwang Hojun, Arirang News.
Visit ‘Arirang News’ Official Pages
Facebook(NEWS): [ Ссылка ]
Homepage: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
