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South Korea: Samsung heir ‘trial of the century’ starts this week

By  |  March 5, 2017

Samsung leader Jay Y. Lee will go on trial for bribery and embezzlement on Thursday, amid a corruption scandal that has rocked South Korea and led to the impeachment of the president.

Lee, the 48-year-old third-generation leader of the country’s top conglomerate, was indicted on Tuesday on charges including pledging $37.24 million in payments to a confidant of President Park Geun-hye.

“We are preparing hard, thinking that the upcoming Samsung trial … could be the trial of the century that the entire world will be watching,” special prosecutor Park Young-soo told reporters.

The Samsung scion’s hearing will be held in a court that can accommodate more than 150 people, according to the Seoul Central District Court’s court database.

Lee, who was arrested on Feb. 17, was charged with bribery and embezzlement in a case that has dealt a blow to the standard bearer for Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

Among the charges against Lee are pledging bribes to a company and organizations tied to Park’s confidant, Choi Soon-sil, the woman at the center of the scandal, to cement his control of the smartphones-to-biopharmaceuticals business empire.

Full Content: iGyaan

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