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| Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong arrives at the Incheon International Airport after a business trip to China, May 19 Yonhap |
By Kim Se-jeong
The prosecution questioned Samsung Group heir Lee Jae-yong, Tuesday, over the conglomerate's controversial decision to merge two of its affiliates five years ago.
It's unclear how long the questioning lasted. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office refused to disclose any information concerning the Samsung Electronics vice chairman.
It was Lee's first appearance since February 2017 when he was grilled over his conviction for bribing a confidante of former President Park Geun-hye ― a case went all the way to the Supreme Court that referred an appeal's court's dismissal of the charge back for review.
Tuesday's summons came less than a month after Lee made a public announcement that he would not pass on management of Samsung to his children.
Prosecutors suspect Samsung managers helped Lee to succeed his father, Lee Kun-hee, by conspiring to lower the value of Samsung C&T before its merger with Cheil Industries ― Lee was Cheil's largest shareholder at that time and Samsung C&T's lower value served his interest in taking control of Samsung C&T and cementing his position as de facto group head.
Samsung C&T is the de facto holding company of Samsung Group.
Likewise, Cheil Industries' value skyrocketed by 370 percent in 2015 prior to the merger which reinforced Lee's standing as the largest shareholder and prosecutors suspect the abrupt inflation was also manipulated.
Key to the investigation is proving whether Lee was aware of the managers' maneuvers and if he supported them.
Samsung has denied the allegation saying it never manipulated the value of its affiliates and that it was the prosecution's mistake to connect the merger with management succession.
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