Seoul — South Korean prosecutors on Monday asked for the heir to giant conglomerate Samsung to be arrested for bribery in connection with a political scandal that has seen President Park Geun-hye impeached. In a statement, prosecutors investigating the scandal said they asked a Seoul court to issue an arrest warrant for Lee Jae-yong, the son of the Samsung group chairman Lee Kun-hee. If the court agrees with the request, Lee will be the first senior executive of the giant electronics firm to be arrested over the scandal, which centres on Park’s secret confidante, Choi Soon-sil. Choi is accused of using her ties with Park to coerce top local companies to "donate" nearly $70m to dubious nonprofit foundations Choi then used as her personal ATMs. Samsung is the single biggest contributor to the foundations and separately paid Choi millions of euros, allegedly to bankroll her daughter’s equestrian training in Germany. Lee, 48, is the vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics and is accused of...
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