Supreme Court summons Samsung's Chairman to surrender!

Lee Kun-hee, CEO, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has been ordered to appear before a court in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh by the Supreme Court in India. As per the court order issued on 2nd April 2014, Lee who faces criminal charges was granted a period of six weeks to appear before the local court failing which he would face arrest in connection with a decade-old dispute with a supplier for non-payment of dues amounting to more than $1.4 million(about 8.4 crore).

JCE Consultancy, a New Delhi-based company has claimed that Samsung's subsidiary in Dubai has failed to pay the said amount.

According to a statement issued by Samsung, Lee has no connection with the case which they refer to as a "multi-million dollar fraud scheme" involving a subsidiary in Dubai. The company making their stand clear said, "There are no grounds, let alone evidence, to support the accusation against Chairman Lee. We are confident that the Indian courts will recognize the innocence of Chairman Lee and deliver justice."

On Monday 31st March 2014 a bench of Justice CK Prasad and Justice PC Ghose had dismissed Lee's petition challenging the Allahabad High Court order to drop the criminal proceedings directed against him.

Meanwhile it is believed that Lee has surrendered before the court over the unpaid debt, to answer the charges alleged by the supplier that he has willfully not made the said payment. Although the Supreme Court has ruled that the arrest order would not be executed for six weeks Lee has addressed the court, in an attempt to seek bail and obtain an exemption from having to appear in the court to address the charges he faces before the stipulated time in order to avoid the arrest order.

The two judge panel contradicting the CEO’s appeal and its order asking him to appear before the court has clarified their stand which says, "We make it clear that we have not expressed any opinion in regard to the merit of the case."

According to Forbes, the head of South Korea's largest conglomerate, Lee Kun-hee, 72, who presently faces criminal charges, is the country’s richest man with a net worth of $11.2 billion.