Jay Y. Lee, Samsung Leader Facing ‘Trial of the Century,’ Denies Charges -<br />By JONATHAN SOBLEMARCH 9, 2017<br />Five executives at Samsung, including the conglomerate’s de facto leader, Lee Jae-yong, formally denied bribery<br />charges against them on Thursday, in a preliminary hearing for a trial with the potential to shake South Korea.<br />Prosecutors have named Ms. Park as an accomplice in Mr. Lee’s case, most recently in a report issued on Monday about Mr. Lee’s indictment.<br />Mr. Lee, who also goes by the name Jay Y. Lee, and the other executives face charges<br />that strike at the heart of the deep ties between the South Korean government and powerful family-controlled businesses, a source of growing public resentment.<br />He and the other executives, who are accused of aiding Mr. Lee, did not appear in court<br />for the preliminary hearing on Thursday, but they denied the charges through lawyers.<br />Prosecutors say Mr. Lee sought a particularly South Korean favor in return: Approval for a merger<br />that cemented his family’s hold over the sprawling Samsung group, a vast and complex network of companies whose interests range from cellphones to shipbuilding.
