Samsung heir acquitted of stock manipulation charges With this trick, the ‘coolest dictator in the world’ wants to become president again soon

Lee Jay Yong is considered one of South Korea’s most powerful managers. However, the head of memory chip market leader Samsung repeatedly came into conflict with the law. Now he can breathe a sigh of relief for the time being.

Yong has been acquitted by a court of charges of stock manipulation and other financial crimes. The court in Seoul ruled in the first instance on Monday in a lawsuit over the controversial merger of two subsidiaries of the largest South Korean company nine years ago.

According to reports from South Korean broadcasters, the verdict was that it could not be proven that 55-year-old Lee had engaged in illegal activities. It was initially unclear whether the Public Prosecution Service, which had demanded five years in prison and a hefty fine against Lee, would appeal.

The indictment against the CEO of memory chip market leader Samsung Electronics focused on the background to the merger of construction company Samsung C&T with subsidiary Cheil Industries in 2015. Critics mainly saw the merger as a strengthening of the Samsung founding family. Lee is the grandson of founder Lee Byung Chull. Samsung Electronics, which competes with Apple for market leadership in smartphones, is the conglomerate’s flagship company.

Court: No evidence of damage

According to the court, the merger was not solely intended to secure Lee’s succession at the top of the group or to strengthen his control. There was no evidence that shareholders had suffered any damage, the company said. According to reports, Lee was also acquitted of charges of accounting fraud at biotechnology specialist Samsung Biologics, a subsidiary of Cheil.

Prosecutors had charged Lee with stock price manipulation, breach of trust, violating audit rules and other crimes. Investigators suspected management of orchestrating the merger through illegal means to secure control of Samsung for Lee. Lee denied the allegations. In addition to him, the former head of Samsung’s now defunct strategy agency, Choi Gee Sung, and twelve other defendants in the trial have now been acquitted.

Lee has had several run-ins with the law in recent years. For example, he was involved in a serious corruption affair involving former President Park Geun Hye, who was removed from the highest state office in March 2017. In early 2021, Lee was again sentenced to prison for corruption. A few months later, he was released early on probation before also receiving a special pardon from President Yoon Suk Yeol. (saw/sda/awp/dpa)