[종합] Lee Jae-yong trial’Shingyeongjeon’ after 5 months… First official trial on the 26th

Jaeyong Lee, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics. [유대길 기자, [email protected]]

The trial of Samsung Electronics’ vice chairman Lee Jae-yong, who is suspected of illegal succession of Samsung Group’s management rights, began again on the 11th, five months later. Vice-Chairman Lee and the prosecutors held fierce battles over the illegality of a merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries in 2015.

The court decided to complete the trial preparation procedure on this day and enter a formal trial from the 25th.

Part 25 of the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Agreement (Judge Park Jeong-je, Park Sarang, and Kwon Seong-su), 10 former and current executives from Samsung, including Vice Chairman Lee, who were charged with fraudulent transactions under the Capital Markets Act, market price control, and business negligence, etc. The preparation period for the second trial was held.

It is a trial held five months after the first trial preparation date in October last year. The court was initially scheduled to hold a second hearing in January of this year, but it has been postponed due to the re-proliferation of Corona 19 and regular greetings by judges.

The prosecution explained the charges of Vice Chairman Lee for about an hour using a presentation (PPT) file in the trial that began at 2 pm.

The prosecution said, “The succession preparation plan was already established in 2012, before and after (Vice Chairman Lee) of Samsung Electronics took office,” and “According to the’Project G’established by the Future Strategy Office, the merger between Everland (formerly Cheil Industries) and Samsung C&T was promoted.” Insisted.

Project G is a succession plan for Vice Chairman Lee, led by the US front office. It is said that Vice Chairman Lee overvalued the value of Cheil Industries, which has a large stake, and undervalued the value of Samsung C&T, and then consolidated the group’s dominance by carrying out a merger.

The prosecution raised a voice over the undervaluation of Samsung C&T, saying, “The company’s assets were disposed of at a low price.”

Vice-Chairman Lee immediately refuted. Furthermore, he insisted that he was innocent. “The prosecution claims that Cheil Industries was overvalued at the time of the merger,” said Vice Chairman Lee’s lawyer. I confronted it.

The lawyer also emphasized, “If one company suffers damage from the merger, it will certainly be a problem, but after the merger with Cheil Industries, Samsung C&T’s management performance improved and its credit rating rose.”

Samsung merged with its affiliates Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries in 2015. It was a method of exchanging 1 share of Samsung C&T and 0.35 shares of Cheil Industries. Vice Chairman Lee, who owned a 23.2% stake in Cheil Industries, reinforced the group’s dominance after the merger.

The prosecution decided that the Samsung Future Strategy Office planned to merge the two companies for the stable succession of management rights for Vice Chairman Lee. I also thought that Vice Chairman Lee received and approved reports at every critical step in the process.

Vice-Chairman Lee did not attend the trial on this day. The preparatory date for a trial is the day when the issue of the case and future trial procedures such as a witness newspaper are discussed, and unlike a formal trial, the defendant is not obligated to attend. He is sentenced to two years and six months in prison at a repatriation trial for the destruction of the Gukjeong Nongdan case in January and is serving in a Seoul detention center.

On this day, the court decided to complete the trial preparation process and begin a formal trial. The first trial date will be held at 10 am on the 26th.

The judge said, “The preparation process will be completed today, and the trial will be held every other week until May, and once a week from June.” I asked the lawyers. The closing period for the second half of the court is from the end of July to the beginning of August..