Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong has been found not guilty in a case involving the alleged fraudulent inflation of the share price of a company during a merger.
Nikkei Asia reports that the case involved Cheil Industries, a chemicals and fashion company, which in 2015 was seeking to merge with Samsung Construction and Trading Corporation, known as Samsung C&T.
Before the merger, Cheil Industries owned a key stake in Samsung Biologics and it was claimed Lee Jae-yong sought to inflate the share price of Samsung Biologics to increase the stock price of Cheil.
The Seoul High Court ruled that the prosecution failed on the ground that Cheil’s stock price was moving up anyway and therefore it was hard to determine that the share price had been rigged.
He had been facing charges of stock price manipulation and accounting fraud with prosecutors seeking a five-year jail sentence. Prosecutors now have a week to appeal.
Lee had been acquitted of the charges in a Seoul District Court a year ago.
He had previously served 18 months after being found guilty of bribing former South Korean President Park Geun-hye. He received a pardon from President Yoon Suk Yeol in 2022.
Activists had accused Lee of receiving favourable treatment by authorities, Nikkei Asia reported.