Business Samsung's Vice-chairman, Lee Jae-Jong Arrested Over Alleged Corruption

Lee Jae-Yong, the Vice chairman of Samsung, has been arrested in connection with a wide-ranging scandal in South Korea.

According to the BBC, a South Korean court, said it "acknowledged that it was necessary to arrest [Lee] in light of a newly added criminal charge and new evidence."

This is the first time Lee has been arrested in connection with the scandal, having previously been questioned by authorities in January when prosecutors said there was not enough evidence to arrest him at the time.

Prosecutors in the country now have 20 days to issue formal charges against Lee. If no formal charges are presented the case against him will have to be dropped.



Lee is caught up in the scandal that revolves around South Korea's impeached president, Park Geun-hye.

The Samsung boss faces allegations of embezzlement, lying under oath and offering bribes of £30 million to a friend of Park's

Samsung is accused of seeking favourable treatment regarding a restructuring of the company from the president and has admitted to donating money to two foundations in the country. However, it denies any wrongdoing.

A Samsung spokesperson said: "We will do our best to ensure that the truth is revealed in future court proceedings."

At present, Lee is the vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics a position he has held since his father Lee Kun-hee had a heart attack in 2014. He remains in hospital. Samsung is South Korea's largest company with 325,000 employees and profits in 2015 of £18.5 billion