Prosecutors Likely to Soon Decide on Lee Jae-yong's Indictment... Yoon Seok-yeol and Lee Sung-yoon to Report in Writing for Now

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution is expected to soon reach a conclusion on whether to indict Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, who has been under investigation for allegations of illegal succession of Samsung's management rights.

According to the legal community on the 15th, the weekly meeting (face-to-face report) between Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol and Seoul Central District Prosecutor Lee Sung-yoon was replaced by a written report.

The weekly meeting between Prosecutor General Yoon and Prosecutor Lee is usually held every Wednesday afternoon at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, but it has often been replaced by written reports depending on major schedules and circumstances.

On this day, Prosecutor Lee is known to have compiled the progress of investigations on major cases under the first to fourth deputy prosecutors of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and reported to Prosecutor General Yoon in writing. This is expected to include the matter of whether to indict Vice Chairman Lee.

The Economic Crime Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Bok-hyun) plans to decide on the subjects and charges of the Samsung case as early as this week and make a final report to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office.

The approval process will proceed through the investigation team and the Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Division of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, followed by Prosecutor General Yoon's final approval.

Based on the evidence collected so far, the prosecution is reportedly planning to indict about ten current and former Samsung executives. Since the investigation team believes that sufficient evidence has been secured to prove the charges, it is expected that they will report with an indictment opinion regarding Vice Chairman Lee.

However, since the Prosecution Investigation Deliberation Committee, composed of external experts, recommended suspension of the investigation and non-indictment of Vice Chairman Lee on the 26th of last month, the prosecution is reportedly deliberating to minimize the subjects and scope of indictment in consideration of this.

The prosecution began investigating after receiving a complaint from the Securities and Futures Commission under the Financial Services Commission in November 2018 regarding allegations of accounting fraud by Samsung Biologics.

Since September last year, the investigation has expanded to include suspicions surrounding the succession of management rights, which corresponds to the 'motive' for the accounting fraud.

The prosecution suspects that the entire process from the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries to the subsequent accounting changes at Samsung Biologics was planned to ensure a stable succession of management rights for Vice Chairman Lee.