SEOUL, July 17 (AJP) - South Korea’s Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the acquittal of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong on charges stemming from the controversial 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates and related accounting practices — concluding a nearly five-year legal battle that once threatened to upend the leadership of the country’s largest conglomerate.
The court, presided over by Chief Justice Oh Seok-jun, affirmed lower court rulings that cleared Lee of all criminal charges, including market manipulation, breach of trust, and violations of capital market and accounting laws.
The decision effectively ends one of South Korea’s most high-profile corporate trials.
At the heart of the case were allegations that Lee and his aides engineered the merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries to consolidate his control over the Samsung empire at minimal cost, ahead of a planned leadership succession.
Prosecutors alleged that Lee’s team manipulated stock prices, engaged in accounting fraud, and used Samsung’s powerful but now-disbanded Future Strategy Office to drive the deal through.
Thirteen other defendants, including former Future Strategy Office chief Choi Ji-sung, strategy head Kim Jong-jung, and deputy chief Jang Choong-ki, were also acquitted.
The Supreme Court found that the lower courts had correctly assessed the evidence and followed legal standards governing capital market violations and digital evidence procedures.
One key point in the ruling was the exclusion of prosecution evidence obtained from Samsung’s digital servers and mobile devices.
The appellate courts found that authorities had failed to follow lawful procedures during the collection of 18 terabytes of data from Samsung Biologics and Samsung Bioepis servers, including private messages from former executives. The courts ruled the search and seizure process did not meet legal standards for digital forensics or adequately protect defendants’ rights.
Prosecutors had also argued that Samsung Biologics improperly altered its accounting treatment of call options held by U.S. biotech partner Biogen in order to avoid capital erosion during the 2015 merger.
However, the courts ruled that the company’s financial disclosures reflected reasonable business judgment and that changes in Bioepis’s valuation — spurred by regulatory approval of biosimilar products in Europe — supported the accounting decisions.
In a statement following the ruling, Lee’s legal team said the court’s decision “clearly confirmed the legality of the Samsung C&T merger and the accounting treatment applied by Samsung Biologics.”
The case began in September 2020 when prosecutors indicted Lee on 19 counts. After a lengthy trial, he was acquitted on all charges in February 2024.
That verdict was upheld by an appellate court in February 2025, which expanded the scope to 23 charges, including new allegations. Thursday’s Supreme Court decision affirms both judgments, allowing Lee to move forward without legal constraints as he continues to lead Samsung Group.
reporter
Candice Kim
candicekim1121@ajupress.com
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