Lee, vice president of Samsung Electronics' finance team, who is suspected of ordering the destruction of evidence in connection with Samsung BioLogics' alleged accounting fraud, was arrested on May 5.
The arrest warrant for Ahn, vice president of Samsung Electronics' Business Support TF (Task Force), who had been also under review of legality for confinement, was rejected.
Myung Jae-kwon, a senior judge at the Seoul Central District Court in charge of reviewing their warrant, issued an arrest warrant for Lee earlier in the day, saying. "Many of the criminal charges are cleared, the case is grave, and there is a possibility of the destruction of evidence in light of the suspect's status and the circumstances of the investigation so far."
Regarding Ahn, he explained the reason for his rejection, saying, "Considering how he was treated, his role, residence and family relations, it is difficult to recognize the reason for his arrest at this stage."
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on May 30 requested an arrest warrant for Ahn and Lee on charges of destroying evidence and other charges. They are suspected of being involved in setting up a plan to destroy evidence against prosecution investigations and other cases at the so-called Children's Day meeting held at Samsung Electronics' Seocho office on May 5 last year.
Prosecutors have picked up circumstantial evidence that Samsung Electronics and Samsung Bioepis destroyed evidence ahead of the financial authorities' supervision and prosecutors' investigation and have been speeding up their investigation.
Prosecutors believe that Samsung Electronics' business support TF, the follow-up body of the Future Strategy Office, which served as the control tower of Samsung Group, was involved in the process.
