Samsung Chief, Jay Y. Lee faces 5 years prison over illegal acquisition process

Samsung Electronics Chief, Jay Y. Lee could be sent to five years in prison plus a $375,000 fine. According to South Korean prosecutors, Lee and 13 former Samsung executives were accused of manipulating stock prices and committing accounting fraud on Monday. The charges were committed in relation to the merger of Samsung subsidiaries in 2015. 

South Korean prosecutors have been after Lee for years now. In November of last year, they called for Lee to be sentenced to five years in jail and fined $375,000 over charges of violating the Capital Market Act related to an $8 billion merger of Samsung affiliates in 2015. It was claimed that the merger assisted Lee in gaining control over Samsung Electronics.

Lee pleaded not guilty to the misconduct allegations during the hearing and expressed that the merger process was within the scope of standard operational procedures for the company. The Chief also pointed out that he had never had personal gain concerning the Samsung merger and had never coaxed other shareholders to increase his stake during the process.  

Then, the accused were previously declared not guilty of the charges. However, it was stated then that the ruling would still face appeal from the South Korean prosecutors. 

Monday’s hearing comes amidst a tough period for Samsung’s slow profit turnout.  Operating profit for the world’s top maker of memory chips stood at $7.67 billion in Q3. This is a jump from $1.73 billion a year earlier, but little changed from the $7.45 billion reported in the previous quarter.

In addition, the case comes at a time when South Korea is working to restructure the formation of corporations. Analysts have predicted this development will have a lot of ramifications on consumer electronics and competition in the country’s technology ecosystem.  

According to the prosecutor, “The defendant damaged the capital market’s foundation for the group’s succession. The ruling in this case will serve as a reference point for restructuring chaebol companies, [which is a large, family-controlled business conglomerate in South Korea], and accounting in the future.”

“If the defendants are granted leniency, the merger will be carried out in a manner that prioritizes their interests by resorting to unlawful and expedient means without hesitation,” the prosecutors added.

A decision on the appeal case is expected to be delivered between January and February 2025.

What you should know about Lee and the merger

According to claims by the South Korean prosecutors, Jay Y. Lee, then vice-chair of Samsung Electronics in 2015, and other executives at the firm inflated the stock price of Cheil Industries, Samsung’s textile affiliate, and depreciated its construction subsidiary, Samsung C&T, during the merger in 2015. This was tagged as an illegal process to benefit Lee which has given him greater control of Samsung Electronics.

In September 2020, they were accused of advocating the merging of Cheil Industries, Samsung’s textile affiliate, with Samsung C&T, in a bid to take over the tech giant’s management controls. The prosecution also claimed that Samsung had a strategy to merge that helped Lee solidify his control and take over management rights.

According to the prosecutors, Samsung’s merger process took a toll on the shareholders of Samsung Construction and Trading Corporation.

Lee is also accused of engaging in a $3.9 billion accounting fraud at Samsung Biologics, Samsung’s biopharmaceutical unit, as part of the same case.

In a separate case related to the merger, the Samsung chief was convicted of bribing former South Korean president Park Geun-hye. Though the Seoul High Court sentenced Lee to 30 months, he spent 18 months in jail, paroled in 2021, and was granted a presidential pardon in 2022.

Lee was originally convicted of bribery in 2017 and sentenced to five years but was released in 2018 after the sentence was reduced and suspended on appeal. In August 2019, South Korea’s Supreme Court overturned the appeals court, ruling that it was too lenient and ordered the case to be retried.

Lee was expected to become chairman of Samsung after the death of his father, Lee Kun-hee, in October 2020. He once served as the chaebol’s de facto leader since his father suffered a stroke in 2014.

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