NEWS

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong indicted in corruption scandal

Jane Onyanga-Omara
USA TODAY
In this Jan. 18, 2017, file photo, Lee Jae-yong, front, a vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co. arrives for the hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea.

Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong and four other senior executives from the electronics giant were indicted Tuesday on charges including embezzlement and bribery, South Korean prosecutors said.

Lee is the vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, the world's largest smartphone maker. He is accused of paying $36 million in bribes to entities run by Choi Soon-sil, a friend of the impeached President Park Geun-hye, in return for the government's backing of a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported. Lee was arrested Feb. 17.

The executives will be tried in the coming months.

Investigators suspect that Choi and Park took bribes from Samsung in return for business favors, Yonhap reported.

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Park, who is awaiting a ruling on her impeachment by the country's constitutional court, will not face charges while she is an incumbent president, the news agency said. Choi has been jailed.

Lee, 48, became the acting head of Samsung — which was founded by his grandfather — in 2014 after his father, Lee Kun-hee, suffered a heart attack.

Some South Koreans call the country the “Republic of Samsung” because of the company's vast influence in matters ranging from exports to health care. Almost 60 companies affiliated with Samsung account for a third of South Korea's stock market capitalization.

Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Contributing: Kevin McCoy