On the 8th, Lee Jae-yong, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics, who is under prosecution investigation for allegations of unfair succession of management rights related to the merger of the former Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, as well as accounting fraud allegations involving Samsung Biologics, is entering the courtroom to attend the warrant hearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@
[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The Special Committee on Prosecution Review (SCR) has passed a resolution with a majority vote recommending 'suspension of investigation and non-prosecution' regarding the indictment of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (52) and others.
On the 26th, the SCR, composed of 14 members selected from various fields including the legal community, academia, media, civic groups, and culture and arts, resolved that it is not appropriate to indict Vice Chairman Lee, former Samsung Future Strategy Office Strategy Team Leader Kim Jong-jung, and Samsung C&T for alleged violations such as unfair trading and market manipulation under the Capital Markets Act and violations of the External Audit Act for Stock Companies, and that the investigation into Vice Chairman Lee should be halted.
The SCR meeting, which began at 10:30 a.m. at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, extended beyond the scheduled time and lasted nearly eight hours.
The SCR has the authority to decide whether to disclose the results of its review opinions, and after comprehensively considering the public's right to know and the gravity of the matter, it decided to make the decision public.
With the SCR passing a 'non-prosecution opinion,' the prosecution is inevitably faced with a dilemma.
There is expected to be internal division over whether to overturn the conclusion reached after a 19-month investigation based on the discussion and vote of the 14 members (effectively 13, considering the acting chairperson does not have voting rights).
Since the Samsung-related investigation has been coordinated by Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl and Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon since the Park Young-soo special prosecutor team, which investigated the 'state affairs manipulation' case, it remains uncertain whether the prosecution will actually abandon indictment despite the SCR's non-prosecution recommendation.
Of course, if the prosecution indicts Vice Chairman Lee and others contrary to the SCR's opinion, criticism is expected to grow that the prosecution has rendered the system it introduced to ensure objectivity and fairness in investigative procedures meaningless.
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