A group of South Korean investigators demanded five years in prison for Lee Jae-younghave become the president and leader of Samsung. They say Jae-Yong’s five-year sentence is related to charges of financial fraud and stock price manipulation for a 2015 merger of Samsung subsidiaries.
According to ReutersThe leader of Samsung denied any wrongdoing and considered the investigators’ claims to be false. The investigators said in the last hearing of the court and in the next few months we will witness the announcement of the verdict. The case related to the accusations of the Samsung manager has been going on for three years.
The case in question is the latest whistleblower complaint against Lee Jae-young. He was previously imprisoned for another case, but was eventually pardoned by the South Korean government. After his release, Jae-Yong returned to Samsung and took over the leadership of the company.
The 55-year-old leader of Samsung and a number of former executives violated South Korea’s capital markets law to merge some of Samsung’s subsidiaries, investigators told the Seoul Central District Court today. As a result of this move, Jae-Yong’s control over Samsung Electronics, Samsung’s main business unit, increased.
According to the investigators of the case, Lee Jae-yong was able to merge Samsung’s subsidiaries through stock manipulation, causing financial loss to small investors. While rejecting the claims of the investigators, the leader of Samsung says that the process of merging the companies was done legally.
The court previously announced that the leader of Samsung bribed the former president of South Korea for a total of 18 months between 2017 and 2021. This serious offense eventually landed Lee Jae-young in prison. He received parole in 2021 and was pardoned in 2022.
