Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong has been acquitted by a South Korean court of financial crimes related to a controversial merger in 2015. The court stated that the prosecution failed to adequately prove that the merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries was unlawfully conducted to strengthen Lee’s control over Samsung Electronics.
Prosecutors sought a five-year jail term for Lee, alleging stock price manipulation and accounting fraud. This verdict follows Lee’s pardon in 2022 for separate bribery charges related to the 2015 merger, highlighting the complexities of legal issues involving major figures in South Korea’s corporate landscape. The ruling might alleviate some legal challenges for Lee, who serves a pivotal role in South Korea’s largest conglomerate.