(Reuters) – Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee was found not guilty of accounting fraud and stock manipulation by a Seoul appeals court on Monday, in a ruling that could remove long-running legal risks that Lee has faced from criminal cases.
For nearly a decade, Lee, the leader of South Korea’s biggest conglomerate, has been embroiled in a series of legal challenges including over a 2015 merger that paved the way for his succession, but raised questions over corporate governance.
The following is a timeline of events in various cases involving Lee.
2016
Nov. 13: South Korean prosecutors question Lee in a probe over a political scandal alleging wrongdoing by former President Park Geun-hye involving a personal confidant, Choi Seo-won, better known by her former name Choi Soon-sil.
Dec. 9: South Korea’s parliament votes to impeach President Park over the influence-peddling scandal.
2017
Feb. 17: Lee is arrested over his alleged role in the scandal and for paying bribes to organisations controlled by Choi to secure support for a 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates and cement his control of the Samsung Group.
Feb. 28: Samsung Group dismantles its corporate strategy office amid accusations that Lee worked with the office to bribe former president Park and her confidante Choi.
Feb. 28: South Korean prosecutors indict 17 people including Lee over the scandal.
Aug. 25: The Seoul Central District Court sentences Lee to five years in prison for bribery, hiding assets abroad and embezzlement.
2018
Feb. 5: Lee is released from jail after an appeals court cut his sentence to two and a half years and suspended it for four years. Lee’s lawyer says he will appeal to the Supreme Court to try and overturn the conviction.
2019
Aug. 29: South Korea’s Supreme Court sends Lee’s case back to the appellate Seoul High Court for review, saying its interpretation of what constituted bribes was too narrow.
Oct. 25: The first hearing in Lee’s bribery retrial is held.
2020
Jan. 9: Samsung Group sets up an anti-corruption panel headed by a former Supreme Court judge to improve compliance and prevent violation of governance rules.
May 6: Lee makes a public apology over controversies in Samsung’s succession plans and says he will not hand over management rights to his children.
Oct. 22: Lee’s trial over suspected accounting fraud and stock price manipulation connected to the 2015 merger begins. He is accused of engineering an $8 billion merger between two Samsung affiliates – Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries – in a way that hurt the interests of minority shareholders.
