PUBLISHED ONFebruary 14, 2017 12:26 PM
SEOUL - South Korea's Samsung Group said on Tuesday it never paid bribes to South Korean President Park Geun-hye or sought illicit favours from her, as a special prosecutor's office seeks to arrest the conglomerate's leader.
The prosecutor's office said earlier on Tuesday it filed a second request to arrest Jay Y. Lee, the third-generation leader of the country's top conglomerate, on charges including bribery, as part of a wider investigation into a graft scandal that led to Park's impeachment by parliament in December.
The prosecution accuses Lee of paying bribes to Park's confidant, Choi Soon-sil, to win support for a 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates.
Lee and the Samsung Group have denied wrongdoing.