A South Korean court on Tuesday declined to issue an arrest warrant for the heir to South Korea's Samsung empire over a controversial merger of two business units seen as a key step to his succession, Yonhap news agency reported.
Prosecutors had sought the arrest warrant for Lee on suspicion he was involved in price manipulation and illegal trading during the 2015 merger of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T. "There was insufficient explanation on the need to arrest the defendants against the principle of trial without detention," Judge Won Jung-sook said, according to Yonhap.
Chaebol families often have only a small ownership stake in their empires, but maintain control through complex webs of cross-shareholdings between units.Lee was the largest shareholder in Cheil Industries, and critics say Samsung sought to artificially lower the price of C&T to give him a bigger stake in the merged entity -- a key part of the Samsung structure -- consolidating his grip on the conglomerate.
Lee, 51, has effectively been at the helm of Samsung -- South Korea's biggest business group -- since his father and Samsung group boss Lee Kun-hee suffered a heart attack in 2014.