Samsung dismantles corporate nerve centre, top executives to be charged
South Korea’s special prosecutor will charge the group vice-chairman, its president and three others in the bribery scandal that looks likely to bring down President Park Geun-hye
Seoul — Samsung has dismantled its corporate strategy office, the nerve centre of operations for the sprawling South Korean conglomerate, following its chief’s arrest in a graft scandal that could bring down President Park Geun-hye. Five high-ranking executives will face charges including embezzlement, prosecutors said. Samsung said top group executives including vice-chairman Choi Gee-sung and president Chang Choong-ki had resigned and that its affiliates would manage themselves independently through co-operation between individual firms’ CEOs and the boards of directors. Lee Jae-Yong, third-generation leader of Samsung Group, promised in December to dismantle the corporate strategy office amid accusations that he and the office worked to bribe Park and her confidant, Choi Soon-sil, to curry favour and cement his control of the smartphones-to-biopharmaceuticals business empire. The 48-year-old Samsung chief, arrested on February 17, and four other Samsung executives will be charged...
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