tax alone will be about 10.9 trillion won ($9.6
billion), according to a calculation by Choi Nam-
kon of Yuanta Securities. Raising cash for the
tax payment could take years and may end in a
shake-up across the group.
Including the late Lee Kun-Hee’s 4.18% stake,
the family combined holds a 5.79% of Samsung
Electronics. The company’s shareholding
system is complex and some Samsung affiliates
collectively hold larger stakes, but the Lee family
holds stakes in those companies too, allowing
them to control the group.
Lee Jae-yong’s legal trouble stems from
allegations he offered millions of dollars’ worth
in bribes to former President Park Geun-hye
and one of her longtime confidantes to obtain
support for a 2015 merger between two
Samsung affiliates to increase his control of
Samsung Electronics.
The merger went ahead despite opposition
from shareholders who said the deal unfairly
benefited the Lee family.
Lee was freed in February 2018 after the
Seoul High Court overturned key convictions,
reducing and suspending his sentence. The
Supreme Court later sent the case back to the
High Court, saying the amount of bribes Lee
allegedly offered was undervalued.
Last month, prosecutors indicted Lee on charges
of stock price manipulation, accounting fraud
and other crimes related to the 2015 merger.
Lee’s lawyers have denied wrongdoing, saying it
was part of “normal business activity.”
South Korea punishments for corruption and
financial crimes by top executives are often