2nd LD Writethru: S.Korean prosecutors seek 2nd arrest warrant of Samsung heir

South Korean prosecutors independently investigating the scandal involving impeached President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday sought their second arrest warrant of the heir apparent of Samsung Group, the country's biggest family-controlled conglomerate.

The arrest warrant for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong was requested, the independent counsel team said. A Seoul court is forecast to determine its validity on Thursday night or early Friday.

The special prosecutors, who launched investigation into the presidential scandal on Dec. 21 last year, sought their first warrant on Jan. 16 that was rejected by the court three days later for lack of evidence.

In the past three weeks, they looked further into the case, storming the country's anti-trust body and the financial regulator on Feb. 3 to collect evidences.

Lee is suspected of offering tens of millions of U.S. dollars to President Park's longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil, who is at the center of the influence-peddling scandal, in return for winning support from the national pension fund in the July 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates.

The merger was crucial to the Samsung heir, who has actually led the business empire since his father Chairman Lee Kun-hee was incapacitated for heart attack in May 2014, to inherit the overall management control.

Lee's legal team has acknowledged the group's contributions to the two nonprofit foundations controlled by Choi, but denied any quid pro quo for the donations.

Lee was summoned on Monday morning for questioning that had lasted for about 15 hours. When he appeared at the office of special prosecutors, protesters shouted for the detention of Lee as well as other heads of business conglomerates. Endit