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Samsung heir Lee Jae Yong on his way to court in Seoul: Charged with stock price manipulation, breach of trust, auditing violation and other offenses
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Ahn Young-joon / AP
The de facto boss of the Samsung group, Lee Jae Yong, has already been tried on charges of bribery.
Now the heir of the tech empire is also supposed to answer in connection with the controversial merger of two group subsidiaries five years ago.
The investigators suspect the management of the largest South Korean conglomerate to have initiated the merger with illegal means to secure Lee control of Samsung.
The prosecution charged the 52-year-old vice chairman of the smartphone and memory chip market leader Samsung Electronics with stock price manipulation, breach of trust, violation of audit regulations and other offenses.
In addition to Lee, ten other former and current managers have been charged.
The further process could take months, if not years.
However, he and the other accused did not have to be detained.
This means that Lee can continue to carry out his management activities.
In June, a court had rejected an application for arrest for the son of the sick and bedridden CEO Lee Kun Hee.
Samsung Biologics investigates falsification of accounts
The latest indictment against Lee is about the background to the merger of the construction company Samsung C&T with the subsidiary Cheil Industries in 2015. Critics saw the merger as a strengthening of the Samsung founding family.
The merger was done to enable the succession and the "consolidation of Lee's power at a minimum of costs," the prosecutor was quoted by the national news agency Yonhap.
It was a serious criminal act that disrupted the order of the capital market and disregarded the interests of investors.
Lee Jae Yong had denied the allegations.
A few weeks ago, an independent civil body recommended that prosecutors stop investigating Samsung's succession and that Lee should not be charged.
In addition, the biotechnology company Samsung Biologics is investigating Lee and others for falsifying accounts.
According to an investigation by the Financial Services Commission, Biologics had beautified the value of its shares in the biopharmaceutical subsidiary Samsung Bioepis in 2015.
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apr / dpa