CONFLICTS

Prosecutors request arrest of Samsung heir, bribery suspect

Associated Press
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FILE - In this Dec, 6, 2016 file photo, Lee Jae-yong, a vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co. arrives for hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea. The special prosecutors office said Monday, Jan. 16, 2017 that it requested an arrest warrant for Lee, the 48-year-old Samsung Electronics vice chairman as a bribery suspect in the influence-peddling scandal that led to the impeachment of South Korea's president. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Jan. 12, 2017 fie photo, Lee Jae-yong, center, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics, arrives to be questioned as a suspect in bribery case in the massive influence-peddling scandal that led to the president's impeachment at the office of the independent counsel in Seoul, South Korea. The special prosecutors office said Monday, Jan. 16, 2017 that it requested an arrest warrant for Lee, the 48-year-old Samsung Electronics vice chairman. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, Pool, File) (The Associated Press)

Nine judges of South Korea's Constitutional Court sit during hearing arguments for South Korean President Park Geun-hye's impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Jan. 16, 2017. (Kim Hong-ji/Pool Photo via AP) (The Associated Press)

Prosecutors have requested the arrest of the Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong as a bribery suspect in the influence-peddling scandal that led to the impeachment of South Korea's president.

The special prosecutors office said Monday that it requested an arrest warrant for Lee, the 48-year-old Samsung Electronics vice chairman.

It said it also indicted ex-health minister Moon Hyung-pyo on charges he abused his power to compel the national pension fund to support a contentious Samsung merger in 2015.

Last week, the investigators questioned Lee on allegations Samsung won government favors such as getting backing for the merger in exchange for donating corporate funds to various entities controlled by Choi Soon-sil, a long-time friend of President Park Geun-hye. She has been jailed.

Lee earlier denied the allegations. Samsung had no comment.