Samsung chief indicted on tax charges

Special prosecutors said today that they indicted Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee on charges of tax evasion and breach of trust, while clearing South Korea’s biggest industrial conglomerate of bribery allegations.

The prosecutors said in a statement that they would not arrest Lee as it would “cause enormous disruptions” in Samsung corporate management and have “negative repercussions on our economy.”

Former Samsung attorney Kim Yong-chul made allegations late last year about bribery and other corruption. The conglomerate has denied wrongdoing.

The probe has also examined allegations that Samsung has used dubious financial transactions to ensure corporate control passes from Lee to his son. The prosecutors essentially agreed with that view.