Samsung Chief Jay Y. Lee, was not found guilty in the case of merger

Seoul: The president of Samsung Electronics, Jay Y. Lee, was declared not guilty of accounting fraud and manipulation of actions by a Seoul Court of Appeals on Monday, in a ruling that could eliminate the long -term legal risks that he has faced with Criminal cases

The Seoul Superior Court confirmed the ruling of the lower court dismissing all the positions of a case that involves a fusion of 2015 that prosecutors, according to prosecutors, was designed to consolidate Lee’s control to the technological giant.

Legal battles have been a distraction for Lee, which faced growing questions about their ability to bring Samsung Electronics, the main memory chip and smartphone manufacturers in the world, since they deal with growing competition and dazzled prices of actions.

“He took a long time. We hope that with the last ruling, the defendants can concentrate on their work,” said Lee Kim You-Jin lawyer after the ruling.

For almost a decade, Lee has faced legal challenges, including those of the fusion that paved the way for his succession after his father, Lee Kun-Hee, had a heart attack in 2014 that left him in a coma.

A lower court last year eliminated Lee from all charges related to the merger of $ 8 billion in 2015 between two members of Samsung, Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries. Later, prosecutors appealed before the Superior Court of Seoul, looking for a five -year prison period, citing a separate ruling in August that said Samsung Biologics, affiliate from Cheil Industries, violated accounting standards by exaggerating his assets to justify The Merger.

The judge said that even when the accounting practices of biological products involved “inappropriate acts”, such as the manipulation of documents, the results reflected financial realities and were based on rational reasons and processes.

The court dismissed the claims of prosecutors that the merger caused financial losses to Samsung C&T shareholders. Lee did not answer questions from journalists when he left the Court on Monday.

He has denied irregularities, he said in court last November: “I never had the intention of deceiving or damaging investors for personal gain.”

It was not clear immediately if the Prosecutor’s Office would appeal the decision before the Supreme Court.

Samsung’s shares closed 2.7 percent after the decision.

LENIENCY

A civic group condemned the decision of the court because he argued that he showed Clemencia to Lee, who was accused of adjusting his control over his company at the expense of the country’s pension fund and other investors.

The solidarity of the people for participatory democracy said that the court did not take into account other judicial decisions related to the case of fusion.

Lee turned 18 combined in jail for bribery charges before being released in 2021 as part of a scandal that led to mass protests and finally demolished President Park Geun-Hye in 2017. Park also served a prison of almost five years term.

In 2022, the now accused president of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol forgave Lee, and the Ministry of Justice said the business leader was necessary to help overcome a “national economic crisis.”

The controversial fusion caused a violent reaction of investors such as the American Coverage Fund Elliott and raised questions about the corporate governance of the family conglomerates of Korea, which are often criticized for putting the interests of family members ahead of other shareholders .

In 2023, the South Korean government was ordered to pay around $ 108.5 million to Elliott, who demanded him for the role played by the country’s pension fund to approve the merger.

Last year, the National Pension Service, previously the largest shareholder in Samsung C&T, filed a lawsuit against Lee, looking for fusion damage that allegedly undervalued the key unit.

“This is a positive news for Samsung, who has had commercial difficulties,” said Park Ju-Gun, leaders of the corporate analysis firm.

“But the ruling will be a load for Lee, which has to demonstrate its management capacity now that it is free of legal risks,” he said.

The Jewel of the Crown of the conglomerate, Samsung Electronics, warned on Friday of the slow sales of its artificial intelligence chips in the current quarter.

Samsung Electronics has lost to the smallest competitor SK Hynix in the supply of high -band -width memory chips (HBM) to the AI ​​graphics processing units of NVIDIA and it is seen that much of the profits generated by the boom is missing Current of AI.