A Seoul court docket discovered Monday Samsung Electronics Chairperson Jay Y. Lee not responsible of accounting fraud and inventory manipulation in a case a few 2015 merger of Samsung associates that prosecutors stated was designed to tighten his management of the tech group.
Prosecutors had requested for a five-year jail time period final November. Lee denied wrongdoing, arguing that he and different executives acted on the assumption the merger would profit shareholders.
The shock ruling might nonetheless be appealed by prosecutors.
The sentence prevents a return to jail for Lee who was convicted in 2017 of bribing a good friend of former President Park Geun-hye. He served 18 months of a 30-month sentence and was pardoned in 2022 by present President Yoon Suk Yeol with the federal government saying he was wanted to assist overcome a “national economic crisis.”
In the merger case, prosecutors accused Lee, 55, and different former executives of violating the Capital Markets Act to engineer a merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries that rode roughshod over the pursuits of minority shareholders.
Before the merger, the Lee household and associated entities managed Cheil however not Samsung C&T, which was a serious shareholder in Samsung Electronics – the crown jewel within the Samsung Group.
South Korea’s largest conglomerates are nonetheless owned and managed by their founding households and the general public has lengthy veered between anger over their many scandals and recognition that the households are chargeable for a lot of the nation’s financial success.
As of the tip of September, the Lee household and associated entities owned 20.7% of Samsung Electronics.
Source: www.dailysabah.com