A South Korean court has found three Samsung executives guilty on charges of accounting fraud. The execs were booked for burying computers under the floors of a factory at their Biotech facility.
Officials were ticked off by Samsung’s rapid inflation. The company had inflated by 4.5 trillion won ($3.82 billion) in 2015. Because of this, investigation into the company’s accounts started.
The court’s verdict:
The court found three executives guilty and fined them with up to 2 years in prison. The verdict came from Judge Soh Byung-seok.
“The boldness of the defendants’ criminal acts was beyond the public’s imagination and stunned society,” said the Judge.
He went on to explain how Samsung is a big part of South Korea and how the fraud lets down South Koreans all over the world. “Most South Korean people want Samsung … to become the world’s top-class company contributing to the country’s economy
The judge did not let Samsung’s reputation hinder his judgement. “However, if such growth is based on breaches and unlawfulness, it will not be applauded.”
There has been complete radio silence from the defendant side of the table. Lawyers were not there immediately to comment and Samsung Biologics has not said on the matter anything as well. Samsung Electronics has straight out denied to comment.
The court has also highlighted efforts to destroy evidence. Employees were ordered to destroy and conceal internal documents. They inserted nearly two dozen computers and notebooks as well as computer servers in spaces under the floors of Samsung Biologics factories near the capital, Seoul.
Samung’s CEO Jay Y. Lee has also been facing charges of corruption. Lee has been under the light for bribing former president Park Geun-hye. This allegedly helped him confirm his support in Samsung’s succession planning.
Things are looking bleak for Samsung with the corruption scandal and the imprisonment of the executives. Samsung has seen a period of rapid growth in the past years and has become one of the leading companies in the industry and one wonders if the company has indulged in unfair practices to do so.
