Prosecutors Cite 39 Notebooks of Evidence in Samsung Graft Trial

Prosecutors Cite 39 Notebooks of Evidence in Samsung Graft Trial
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South Korean prosecutors laid out their case against Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee by outlining how a top presidential aide documented instances of alleged bribery in the pages of 39 handwritten notebooks, according to Bloomberg.

That surfaced during Lee’s first court appearance in a trial at the center of one of South Korea’s largest-ever graft scandals, which cost President Park Geun-hye her  job and highlighted the murky nature of government-corporate relationships. The billionaire heir to the Samsung group is fending off accusations of corruption just as its largest corporation is trying to regain ground lost to Apple during 2016’s Note 7 recall debacle.

Lee listened calmly as prosecutors took an hour to outline charges against him. Prosecutors said notebooks from An Chong-bum, a former chief secretary for economic affairs and policy coordination, backed claims that the tycoon ordered money funneled to a friend of Park’s. Those funds, portrayed as donations, were intended to secure government backing for a pivotal 2015 merger that shored up Lee’s control of Samsung Electronics, they said.

Lee declined to speak in his own defense, but his lawyers maintained that the prosecution had yet to show categorically that the tycoon asked for specific favors when he met with President Park. Lee felt he couldn’t turn down the demands of the country’s most powerful person, but didn’t know the donations could go to her friend, his lawyers argued. Hearings will resume April 13.