An arrest warrant for Samsung boss Lee Jae-yong has been filed for a second time by special prosecutors investigating the Korean political scandal involving the country’s president.
Investigators grilled Lee, the de facto boss of the entire Samsung business group, on Monday for 15 hours as a suspect.
The court will review the filing Friday and decide whether to arrest him pending trial.
He faces bribery charges for allegedly having Samsung Electronics pay a close friend of impeached President Park Geun-hye to gain government support in a controversial merger between two of the group’s companies.
The Samsung Electronics vice chairman was quizzed last month and prosecutors subsequently filed an arrest warrant but the judge rejected it for “lack of reasoning”.
Since then, investigators interviewed Samsung executives and ex-government officials to collect more evidence.
An arrest warrant has also been field for senior executive Park Sang-jin, who allegedly paid Park’s friend Choi Soon-sil to arrange the bribes under the orders of Lee.
Samsung has consistently denied the charges and said Lee was coerced by President Park.
48-year-old Lee was named insider director of Samsung Electronics in October and has been running the conglomerate since his farther, chairman Lee Kun-hee, was hospitalized in 2014.
