Samsung head indicted on bribery charges in South Korea

SEOUL — Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of Samsung, one of the world’s largest conglomerates, was indicted on charges of bribery and embezzlement Tuesday, becoming one of the most prominent business tycoons to stand trial in South Korea.

Lee’s indictment came at the end of a special prosecutor’s 90-day investigation of a corruption scandal that had already led to the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.

Lee was accused of giving or promising Choi Soon-sil, a secretive confidante of Park, a total of $38 million in bribes, including thoroughbred horses for Choi’s daughter, an equestrian.

In return, Lee received political favors, most notably government support for a merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015 that helped him inherit corporate control from his incapacitated father, Lee Kun-hee, the Samsung chairman, the prosecutor said in his indictment.