Samsung says its chairman has 'no relation' to case

A day after the Supreme Court asked Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-Hee to appear before a Ghaziabad trial court in connection with a $1.4 million cheating case, the company said the chairman "has no relation to this case whatsoever".

"The perpetrators of the fraud were convicted years ago in Dubai to two years in prison, but having illegally fled justice, are now wanted by the government of the UAE. Samsung Gulf Electronics is a victim of this fraud scheme."

"Despite this, a private criminal complaint was filed by a party in India, claiming to have received a bill-of-exchange used in this fraud. Chairman Lee has no relation to this case whatsoever," a company spokesperson said in a statement.

"There are no grounds, let alone evidence, to support the accusation against Chairman Lee. Chairman Lee is not involved in the day-to-day operations of the many overseas subsidiaries of Samsung," the spokesperson added.

In 2001, an Indian company, JCE Consultancy, filed a civil suit alleging breach of contract and cheating by Lee.

Asking Lee Kun-Hee to appear before the Ghaziabad court within six weeks, the apex court bench of Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose suspended the arrest warrant against the Samsung chairman.

The bench said the warrant of arrest issued against Lee "shall not be executed for a period of six weeks" from March 31.

The court, however, said Lee Kun-Hee "shall appear before the trial court and seek bail and/or exemption from appearance in accordance with law".