[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The decision on whether to detain Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong will be made on the 8th.
The detention decision is expected to be a turning point in the prosecution's investigation into allegations surrounding the Samsung C&T-Cheil Industries merger and the succession of Samsung's management rights, which has been ongoing for 1 year and 7 months.
The Seoul Central District Court announced on the 4th that the pre-trial detention hearing (warrant substantive examination) for Vice Chairman Lee will be held on the 8th at 10:30 a.m., presided over by Judge Won Jeong-sook, who is in charge of warrants.
The four judges in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court are Judges Kim Dong-hyun, Choi Jang-hoon, Kim Tae-gyun, and Won Jeong-sook. A court official stated, "The warrant judge was decided through a computer-based random assignment."
The Economic Crime Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Bok-hyun) filed detention warrants on the morning of the same day for Vice Chairman Lee, former Samsung Strategy and Finance Office Chief Choi Ji-sung (Vice Chairman), and former Strategy Team Leader Kim Jong-joong (President).
Vice Chairman Lee and others were charged with violations of the Capital Markets Act related to unfair trading and market manipulation, as well as violations of the External Audit Act for stock companies. Former President Kim was additionally charged with perjury.
The prosecution believes that the entire process from the 2015 Samsung C&T-Cheil Industries merger to the subsequent accounting changes at Samsung BioLogics was carried out to ensure a stable succession of management rights for Vice Chairman Lee, and that illegal activities such as accounting fraud and stock price manipulation were employed during this process.
There is speculation among prosecution circles that the prosecution's sudden filing of detention warrants was influenced by Samsung's request to convene a prosecution investigation review committee. However, a prosecution official drew a clear line, stating, "The claim that today's detention warrant filing is a sudden counterattack against Samsung's request to convene the investigation review committee is completely untrue."
As the power struggle between the prosecution and Samsung intensifies, the situation has become urgent. If the detention warrant is issued, Samsung's investigation review committee card could effectively be nullified. Conversely, if it is dismissed, Samsung's claim of an "excessive investigation" may gain more credibility.
Judge Won is expected to make the detention decision by comprehensively considering the evidence submitted by the prosecution and the opinions of Vice Chairman Lee's side during the warrant hearing. The detention decision is expected to be made as early as the afternoon of the 8th.
The detention warrant application submitted by the prosecution to the court on the day for Vice Chairman Lee and the other three suspects is reportedly around 150 pages, the opinion explaining the necessity of detention runs into several hundred pages, and the investigation records amount to 400 volumes totaling 200,000 pages.
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