Lee Jae-yong, the 48-year-old leader of the Samsung Group, is due to appear at a court hearing on Wednesday when a judge will decide whether to issue an arrest warrant over his alleged role in a corruption scandal that has rocked South Korea.
A special prosecutor on Monday said it would seek a warrant to arrest the third-generation leader of the country’s largest conglomerate on suspicion of bribery, embezzlement and perjury.
Lee, questioned last week for 22 straight hours at the prosecutor’s office in Seoul, has denied wrongdoing.
The influence-peddling scandal led parliament last month to impeach President Park Geun-hye, a decision that if upheld by the Constitutional Court will see her become the country’s first democratically-elected leader forced from office early.
Park, 64, has denied wrongdoing.