S.Korean court denies arrest warrant request for Samsung heir

A South Korean court yesterday denied an arrest warrant request for Samsung Group heir Jay Y Lee after prosecutors accused him of accounting fraud and stock manipulation.

The ruling provided temporary relief for the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics. But he may face further pressure from the case at a time when the world’s top maker of smartphones and memory chips contends with the impact of COVID-19 on demand.

Prosecutors last week asked the court to issue an arrest warrant for the 51-year-old Lee, as part of a probe into alleged accounting fraud involving a Samsung drugs affiliate and a 2015 merger of two other affiliates. They said the fraudulent accounting, and alleged stock manipulation, helped facilitate Lee’s plan to assume greater control of the group.

“It appears that prosecutors have secured considerable amount of evidence through their investigation, but they fell short of explaining the validity to detain Lee,” the Seoul Central District Court said.