Citizen Groups Say "Lee Jae-yong Faces Many Charges Not Prosecuted"... Report to Prosecution

Minbyun and People's Solidarity Submit Complaint to Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office After Two Press Conferences
Former Vice Chairman Lee and Samsung Officials Charged with Violations of Personal Information Protection Act and Credit Information Act

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don, Intern Reporter Park Joon] Civic groups have submitted a complaint to the prosecution, stating that among the charges against Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong (52) revealed in the prosecution's investigation into the 'illegal succession of management rights' allegations, there are still charges that have not been indicted.

The Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun) Committee on People's Economy and People's Solidarity held a press conference in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the afternoon of the 15th, announcing that they would file a complaint against Vice Chairman Lee and others for violations of the Personal Information Protection Act, Credit Information Act, Capital Markets Act, and Commercial Act (special breach of trust).

The accused include Vice Chairman Lee, Choi Ji-sung (69), former head of Samsung Future Strategy Office (Vice Chairman), Kim Jong-jung (64), former head of the Future Strategy Office's Strategy Team (President), as well as directors of Samsung Securities, Samsung C&T, and those involved during the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries.

The civic groups stated, "The prosecution indicted Vice Chairman Lee and former head Choi in September on charges of unfair trading, market manipulation, and breach of duty under the Capital Markets Act, but these charges represent only a part of the facts revealed during the prosecution's investigation," adding, "Strict punishment is also necessary for other charges."

They further added, "This case is a massive fraud committed by Vice Chairman Lee and Samsung executives who only considered the private interests of the controlling family, disregarding the laws of the Republic of Korea and deceiving the government and financial consumers."

In particular, they pointed out that the indictment disclosed by the prosecution included the fact that personal information of shareholders held by Samsung Securities was used during the illegal merger process of the Samsung Group. They explained, "Samsung C&T handed over the shareholder registry containing personal information to Samsung Securities just before the merger, and Samsung Securities extracted the list of Samsung C&T shareholders," adding, "Subsequently, Samsung Securities encouraged or arranged for small shareholders of Samsung C&T to vote in favor of the merger."

Meanwhile, earlier that morning, they also held a press conference in front of the main gate of the Financial Supervisory Service in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, titled 'Pressing the Financial Supervisory Service to Strictly Sanction Samsung Securities for Involvement in Samsung Group's Illegal Merger.'

Attorney Kim Nam-guk, who attended the press conference, said, "If our society overlooks the illegal acts of the Samsung Group, customers' trust in financial institutions will collapse," adding, "To maintain trust in financial institutions and the order of the capital market, it is necessary to strictly sanction such illegal acts."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.