Supreme Court to Rule on Lee Jae-Yong's Samsung BioLogics Case on July 17

The Supreme Court of South Korea is set to deliver its ruling on the case involving Lee Jae-Yong, the Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, regarding the alleged accounting fraud at Samsung BioLogics on July 17. This decision comes nearly five years after the case was brought to trial in September 2020.

According to legal sources, the Supreme Court's third division, led by Justice Oh Seok-jun, will announce the verdict at 11:15 AM on the specified date, marking five months since the case was submitted to the court in February.

Lee was indicted on charges of manipulating stock prices to facilitate the transfer of management rights and strengthen the group's control during the merger of Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T in 2015. He is also accused of being involved in accounting fraud at Samsung BioLogics to inflate the value of Cheil Industries, where he is the largest shareholder. In total, Lee faces 19 charges, including violations of the Capital Markets Act, breach of trust, and violations of the External Audit Act.

Both the first and second trials acquitted Lee of all charges. The first trial concluded that there was insufficient evidence to support the claim that the merger was solely intended for Lee's succession, noting that there were also legitimate business purposes for Samsung C&T.

During the second trial, prosecutors presented 2,144 additional pieces of evidence and amended the indictment to strengthen their case. However, the appellate court ruled that the evidence did not demonstrate any intent to commit accounting fraud, stating that criminal responsibility could not be established based on speculation or assumptions regarding the serious allegations.