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The heir of South Korean company Samsung has been arrested as part of an investigation into corruption and influence-peddling that caused President Park Geun-hye to be impeached.

The Seoul Central District Court’s decision yesterday to issue a warrant to arrest Lee Jae-yong (48) makes him the first leader in Samsung’s history to be arrested on criminal charges.

Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics and son of the Samsung group head Lee Kun-hee, is accused of paying nearly $40m in bribes to Park’s secret confidante to secure policy favours.

“It is acknowledged that it is necessary to arrest [Lee] in light of a newly added criminal charge and new evidence,” a court spokesman said in a statement yesterday.

He was already being held at a detention centre after appearing in court on Thursday as judges deliberated whether to issue an arrest warrant.

Samsung is South Korea’s largest business group and its revenue is equivalent to about a fifth of the country’s GDP. Lee had been interrogated several times over his alleged role in the scandal that has rocked South Korea in recent months.

He had narrowly avoided being formally arrested last month, after the court ruled that there was insufficient evidence. But prosecutors on Tuesday made a second bid for his arrest, saying they had collected more evidence in recent weeks.

His arrest is likely to send shock waves through the group, which is a major part of the South Korean economy.