Supreme Court finalizes acquittal of Samsung Chairman Lee in 2015 merger case
The Supreme Court on Thursday finalized the acquittal of Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Jae-yong in a controversial merger case dating back to 2015, Yonhap reports.
The verdict came four years and 10 months after Lee was indicted on charges of unfair trading, stock price manipulation and accounting fraud in the merger of two Samsung affiliates, Cheil Industries Inc. and Samsung C&T Corp., in 2015.
The merger was seen as crucial to Lee's succession as heir of the family-controlled group, as his father, Lee Kun-hee, had suffered a heart attack the previous year.
Prosecutors argued the merger and other alleged irregularities were intended to help Lee solidify control of South Korea's largest conglomerate at minimal cost.
Lee was acquitted of all 19 charges in the first trial and all 23 charges in the second trial after additional charges were added.
The Supreme Court dismissed the prosecution's appeal, saying there were no errors in the original ruling.
The court also finalized the acquittals of 13 other people and entities implicated in the case, including Choi Gee-sung, former head of Samsung's now-disbanded control tower Future Strategy Office.
The lower courts had dismissed the prosecution's claims that Lee was involved in fabricating documents, drawing up dubious plans and exercising undue influence to support the merger.
They had also ruled that some pieces of evidence presented by the prosecution were gathered illegally, while others could not be legally recognized as evidence.
In particular, they had noted the prosecution failed to follow procedures and guarantee participation rights in the process of confiscating computer servers from Samsung Biologics and Samsung Bioepis and searching text messages on one of the defendants' phones.
On the accounting fraud charges involving Samsung Biologics, a subsidiary of Cheil Industries, the lower courts ruled that the company's financial statements matched the economic reality.
The Supreme Court upheld all of the determinations.
Lee's lawyer thanked the court for reaching a "wise verdict."
"It has been clearly confirmed through the Supreme Court's final verdict that the Samsung C&T merger and the Samsung Biologics accounting were lawful," the lawyer said.
Earlier, a Seoul court acquitted Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Jae-yong in connection with the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates allegedly conducted to help him take over control of South Korea's biggest conglomerate.
