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An inquiry into the Samsung Group corruption scandal by the team of special counsel Cho Joon-woong is approaching its conclusion with the appearance of Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee for questioning on Friday. It will be the first time in 13 years that Lee reports for questioning in an inquiry. He was indicted without arrest in 1995 in a slush fund scandal involving former president Roh Tae-woo.
Lee is the key figure in three core allegations raised in November last year by Kim Yong-chul, the whistleblower and former head of the Samsung legal department. They involve the underhand transfer of group control from Lee to his son, Samsung's creation of slush funds, and regular bribery of political leaders and senior government officials.
Yun Jung-sok, a spokesman for the investigators, on Thursday said, "We're going to interrogate him on a wide-ranging list of allegations based on the mountains of evidence we've obtained so far."
Lee has already been charged with illegally transferring management rights of Everland amusement park, Samsung¡¯s quasi-holding company, to his son Jae-yong by way of selling him Everland convertible bonds and Samsung SDS bonds with warrants at dumping prices.
Lee is also suspected of instructing former and current Samsung staff to manage slush funds raised through subsidiaries under borrowed-named accounts, and use them to bribe political leaders and senior officials.
The investigative team has already questioned others suspected of involvement in the Everland case, holders of the proxy accounts, and key executives in the Samsung Group's strategic planning office, who allegedly managed the slush funds. Based on the results, investigators will try to confirm if and to what extent Lee himself was involved.
The key question is whether criminal charges could be brought against Lee for his involvement in the Everland case. In October 1996, Everland convertible bonds were issued at giveaway prices and leading stockholders such as the JoongAng Ilbo gave up their right to buy the bonds. In December the same year, Lee jr. acquired them, getting a step closer to effective control of the group.
In December 2003, prosecutors indicted only former and incumbent Everland presidents Her Tae-hak and Park Ro-bin. They were convicted by district and high courts afterwards. But prosecutors brought no charges against Lee Kun-hee, Samsung vice chairman Lee Hak-soo and president Kim In-joo.
Questioning Lee Hak-soo in the current inquiry, investigators say they obtained circumstantial evidence that the strategic planning office was involved in the issuance of the convertible bonds. Based on this, the special counsel will seek to prove that Lee Kun-hee himself played the leading part. Given that the strategic planning office is under his direct supervision, criminal charges against the Samsung chairman cannot be ruled out.
Investigators have yet to prove that the alleged slush funds were raised through Samsung subsidiaries. However, they have confirmed some illegality in opening and maintaining hundreds of accounts under the borrowed names of Samsung staff.
Samsung claims all the money in the accounts was a legacy from Lee¡¯s late father, group founder Lee Byung-chull.
The bribery allegations appear to be difficult to prove because the whistleblower has yet to provide substantial evidence.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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