Asian Tech Press (Dec 20) -- South Korean police said Monday that they have started investigating Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, Samsung's de facto boss for his alleged offshore shell company to avoid taxes.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's (SMPA) Financial Crime Investigation Division said it took over the case from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office last month and summoned the informant for investigation on the 17th of the same month, Yonhap News Agency reported.

According to Korean media Newstapa in October, Lee was suspected of setting up a shell company in the offshore tax haven British Virgin Islands in 2008 to open a corporate account at a Swiss bank, UBS.

After the news hit the press, the liberal Justice Party charged Lee with tax evasion, diverting of assets outside of the country and hiding proceeds of the crime.

Since the prosecution can only legally investigate cases of tax evasion exceeding 500 million won (about 2.68 million yuan), the case was handed over to the police because the amount involved is unknown.