Former Samba CEO Kim Tae-han acquitted in first trial on embezzlement charges... Vice President Kim Dong-jung receives suspended prison sentence

Kim Tae-han, former CEO of Samsung Biologics, who was indicted for embezzling approximately 4.7 billion KRW of company funds and participating in evidence destruction related to accounting fraud during the listing process of Samsung Biologics, was acquitted in the first trial.

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 25-2 (Presiding Judges Park Jeong-je, Ji Gwi-yeon, Park Jeong-gil) on the 14th acquitted former CEO Kim and former Samsung Electronics Vice President Ahn Jung-hyun, who were charged with embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and evidence destruction instruction. However, the court found Samsung Biologics Vice President Kim Dong-joong guilty of instructing evidence destruction and sentenced him to one year in prison with a two-year probation. The embezzlement charge under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes was acquitted.

Regarding the evidence destruction charges against former CEO Kim and former Vice President Ahn, the court explained the reason for acquittal, stating, "It is unnatural to view the emergency countermeasure meeting held on May 5, 2018, as a meeting to discuss deleting materials ahead of the Financial Supervisory Service audit, and the testimonies of related parties lack credibility."

On the embezzlement charges, the court judged not guilty, stating, "The 18TB backup servers seized during the May 2019 raids on Samsung Biologics and Samsung Bioepis were submitted as evidence, but since all were illegally collected, they lack evidentiary value."

However, the court found Vice President Kim guilty of instructing and concealing evidence destruction. The court stated, "It appears that Samsung Group executives, including Kim Dong-joong, systematically decided to delete related materials in preparation for the prosecution's investigation into the Samsung Biologics accounting fraud case," adding, "The responsibility is by no means light, and Kim Dong-joong seems to have effectively overseen the evidence destruction."

Former CEO Kim and others were indicted in October 2020 on charges including embezzling approximately 4.7 billion KRW during the 2016 listing process of Samsung Biologics. They also face charges of participating in evidence destruction to conceal the accounting fraud process of Samsung Biologics in 2018. In the sentencing hearing held in December last year, the prosecution requested five years imprisonment for former CEO Kim, four years for Vice President Kim, and three years for former Vice President Ahn.

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