A Seoul court on Monday, has found Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee not guilty of accounting fraud and stock manipulation in a case involving a 2015 merger of Samsung affiliates that the prosecution claimed was intended to solidify his influence over the tech company.
Last November, the prosecution requested a five-year prison sentence. Lee maintained his innocence, claiming that he and the other executives had worked in the best interests of shareholders when they decided to merge.
The surprise ruling could still be appealed by prosecutors.
The sentence keeps Lee, who was found guilty in 2017 of bribing a friend of former President Park Geun-hye, out of jail.
Following his 18 months of service, he was given a 30-month term, but the government said he was needed to assist solve a “national economic crisis” and pardoned him in 2022 by current President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Prosecutors claimed that Lee, 55, and other former executives had broken the Capital Markets Act in order to force Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries to merge at the expense of minority shareholders’ interests.
The Lee family and its affiliates owned Cheil before the merger, but not Samsung C&T, which had a sizable stake in Samsung Electronics, the company’s flagship product.
South Korea’s biggest conglomerates are still owned and controlled by their founding families and the public has long veered between anger over their many scandals and recognition that the families are responsible for much of the country’s economic success.
Chioma Kalu
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