When Samsung executives and employees accused of covering up Samsung Biologics' internal documents were sentenced to prison terms by the court, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy urged Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong to be summoned by prosecutors.
The civic group said on Dec. 9 that it would ask the prosecution to conclude its investigation into Samsung Biologics accounting fraud, which seriously undermined the fairness of the Korean capital market, as it was used for stock price manipulation in order to carry out the group’s transfer to Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong.
The Seoul Central District Court sentenced all eight executives and employees to prison terms, with one vice president of Samsung Electronics sentenced to two years in prison for destroying evidence of accounting irregularities at Samsung Biologics.
As the Financial Supervisory Service concluded on May 1, 2018, Samsung Biologics' accounting violations, Samsung leaders later tried to destroy evidence by burying dozens of laptops and servers in the ground.
"The evidence that can determine the gravity of criminal responsibility in a big company’s accounting scandals has been destroyed, causing difficulties in uncovering the real truth," the court said. "The large amount of evidence is organized, extensively destroyed and concealed at the group level."
The civic group said, "If the Samsung Biologics’ accounting fraud did not exist, it is hard to believe that the defendants would have acted desperately to destroy evidence, even by tearing down the floor of the factory and deleting materials containing the words "JY" or "succession," which shows the relevance of Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong. The prosecution should thoroughly reveal why Samsung wanted to destroy it.
"In the future, the outcome of today's trial should be reflected in Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong's retrial of his alleged interference in state affairs," it said. "We need to reveal all the illegalities and expedients that Samsung has been carrying out in order to pursue private interests of Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong."
