Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong arrested on charges of bribery

Enlarge / Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung, seen here leaving a court hearing in January 2017. (credit: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

On Friday morning local time, Lee Jae-yong, the vice chairman of Samsung, was taken into custody at the Seoul Detention Centre shortly after the Seoul Central District Court issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of bribery, perjury and embezzlement.

According to a translation provided by the BBC, the court said in a statement: "It is acknowledged that it is necessary to arrest [Lee Jae-Yong] in light of a newly added criminal charge and new evidence."

Lee has generally considered the de facto head of Samsung Group, since his father, still the chairman by title, was hospitalized in 2014.

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