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South Korean appeals court clears Samsung chair in 2015 merger case

A South Korean court on Monday upheld Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong's not guilty verdict over the company's 2015 merger of two affiliates. File Photo by Yonhap South Korea/EPA-EFE
A South Korean court on Monday upheld Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong's not guilty verdict over the company's 2015 merger of two affiliates. File Photo by Yonhap South Korea/EPA-EFE

Feb. 3 (UPI) -- A South Korean appeals court cleared Samsung Electronics Chair Lee Jae-yong Monday of stock manipulation and accounting fraud related to the 2015 merger of two of the company's affiliates.

The Seoul High Court upheld a ruling made last year by the Seoul Central District Court that had cleared Lee of 19 charges against him involving the merger of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T.

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The charges Lee beat included unfair trading, stock price manipulation, accounting fraud, and other alleged irregularities connected with the 2015 merger. After the first trial, prosecutors tried to up the ante by adding 2,144 pieces of evidence and modifying the indictment in its appeal.

The court rejected the prosecution's allegation of fraudulent public disclosure and accounting manipulation by Samsung BioLogics. The court looked at whether Samsung BioLogics had control over Samsung Bioepis before rejecting some of the charges leveled by the prosecution.

The High Cout also turned back the prosecution's argument that the merger report for Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries had been changed to make it easier for Lee to gain management control.

Lee is the son of former Samsung chair Lee Kun-hee, who died of a heart attack in 2014. The first trial last year also cleared 13 other Samsung executives of wrongdoing in the 2015 merger as well.

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