Samsung chief Lee Jae-yong is acquitted of financial crimes related to 2015 merger
By JIWON SONG and KIM TONG-HYUNG
Associated Press
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean court has acquitted Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong of financial crimes related to a contentious merger in 2015 that tightened his grip over South Korea’s biggest company. The ruling by a Seoul court on Monday could ease the legal troubles of the Samsung heir less than two years after he was pardoned of bribery in a separate case. Prosecutors had sought a five-year jail term for Lee, who was accused of stock price manipulation and accounting fraud. It wasn’t immediately clear whether prosecutors would appeal.
