Lawyer for Samsung’s Lee Jae-yong denies corruption charges in court
Samsung vice-chairperson Lee allegedly paid nearly $40m in bribes to impeached President Park Geun-Hye Park’s close friend Choi Soon-Sil, to get policy favours
Seoul — The heir to the Samsung business empire has denied all charges in connection with a wide-ranging corruption scandal, his lawyers told a preliminary hearing on Thursday. Lee Jae-yong was not present at Seoul Central District court for the hearing, which comes as his giant company — the world’s biggest smartphone maker — struggles to recover from a recall scandal. Lee, the vice-chairperson of Samsung Electronics, is being held in custody on accusations of bribery, corruption, perjury and other offences stemming from a scandal that has resulted in President Park Geun-Hye being impeached. Four other Samsung executives have also been charged. "Everyone denies all the charges," a defence lawyer told the court at the hearing, which lasted little more than an hour. The prosecutors’ formal indictment was sketchy, with some of the accusations lacking clear evidence and only circumstantial, the defence said. The accused allegedly paid nearly $40m in bribes to Park’s close friend Choi S...
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