Samsung boss of fraud and stock manipulation allegations acquitted
Samsung boss of fraud and stock manipulation allegations acquitted
On Monday, an appellate court in Seoul acquired the chairman of Samsung Electronics, Jay Y. Lee, from the allegations of invoice fraud and stock manipulation. This judgment could eliminate the long -lasting legal risks with which it is faced in various criminal proceedings.
court confirms acquittal
The Seoul Court Court confirmed the judgment of the lower court, which dropped all charges in a case from 2015, which included the merger of two Samsung subsidiaries. The public prosecutor had argued that the merger was used to consolidate lei's control over the technologic giants.
challenges for Samsung
The legal disputes have presented a distraction for Lee, especially since always asked questions about his ability to lead Samsung Electronics. The company is a leader in the manufacture of memory chips and smartphones and is increasingly faced with increasing competition and stagnating share prices.
reactions to the judgment
Lee’s lawyer, Kim You-Jin, expressed the verdict: "It took a long time. We hope that the defendants can now put their work into focus again." Lee has mastered numerous legal challenges in the past ten years, including the merger, which paved the way for his successor after his father's heart attack, Lee Kun-Hee, in 2014, who put him in a coma.
a controversial judgment
A lower court had acquired Lee last year from all allegations in connection with the merger of the merger of $ 8 billion between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries. However, the public prosecutor appealed after another court decided that Samsung Biologics, a subsidiary of Cheil Industries, had violated accounting standards by overrating his assets to justify the merger.
consequences for corporate management
The judge found that although the accounting practices of biologics were included "inappropriate actions" such as the manipulation of documents, the results were still reflected in the financial realities and were based on rational reasons and processes. The claims of the public prosecutor's office that the merger had given the shareholders of Samsung C&T financial losses were rejected.
reactions from the public
Some civil society groups criticized the judgment as forgiving towards Lee. The "People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy" argued that the court had ignored previous judgments that dealt with the merger. Lee had previously spent 18 months in prison for bribes before he was released in 2021 as part of a scandal that led to massive protests and ultimately brought the President Park Geun-Hye in 2017.
outlook for the future
In 2022, President South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol, Lee, who was pardoned, had pardoned, on the grounds that the company leader was needed to overcome a "national economic crisis". The controversial merger had caused a stir with investors, including the US hedge fund Elliott, and raised questions about the management of South Korean family groups that are often criticized because they provide the interests of family members about the other shareholders.
The latest developments could be accelerating for Samsung, especially since the company has to deal with stagnating sales figures in its AI chips in the current quarter. Samsung Electronics is in strong competition with the smaller competitor SK Hynix in the delivery of high-speed memory chips for Nvidia's AI graphics processors and is expected to miss a large part of the profits generated by the current AI boom.