S. Korea seeks arrest of Samsung heir in probe

S. Korea seeks arrest of Samsung heir in probe

South Korean prosecutors said Thursday they have requested an arrest warrant for Samsung heir Jay Y.

Lee on suspicion of stock price manipulation and audit rule violations, among other offenses.

Gloria Tso reports.

South Korean prosecutors have requested an arrest warrant for Samsung heir Jay Y.

Lee.

Prosecutors said Thursday (June 4) they sought Lee's arrest on suspicion of stock price manipulation and audit rule violations, among other offenses.

Lee now faces a return to jail -- just a little over two years after being released from detention in February 2018.

The news came amid an investigation into a controversial Samsung deal, which they suspect may have helped advance Lee's succession plans.

The deal involves alleged accounting fraud as well as a contentious 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates.

Lee previously spent a year in detention over a separate succession-related charge of bribery.

That charge suggests Lee bribed then-South Korean President Park Geun-hye to win government support for the merger.

He was released after the case was suspended in 2018.

Samsung has declined to comment, but has requested an outside review of the investigation to weigh the validity of the latest indictment.