The prosecution has decided to appeal to the Supreme Court regarding Lee Jae-yong, the chairman of Samsung Electronics, who was indicted on charges of improper merger and accounting fraud but was acquitted in both the first and second trials.
On the afternoon of the 3rd, Lee Jae-yong was captured leaving the court after being acquitted at the appeal trial held at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, regarding the allegations of illegal succession of management rights.
On the 7th, the prosecution announced their decision to appeal the acquittal of Lee Jae-yong and 14 other defendants, including Choi Ji-sung, the former head of Samsung Group’s Future Strategy Office, who were indicted on charges such as fraudulent trading and market manipulation under the Capital Market Act, and breach of trust.
The prosecution explained that this decision was made in consideration of the ‘appeal filing’ discussion held at the Criminal Appeals Review Committee meeting that morning.
There are differences in opinion with the prosecution regarding the legal interpretation of issues such as the purpose and background of the group’s control succession through the merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, as well as the allegations of accounting fraud and fraudulent trading. Given that the first and second trials had different judgments on key issues, it was deemed necessary to seek a ruling from the Supreme Court.