Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong was acquitted by a court in Seoul on Monday in a trial that accused him of accounting fraud and stock market manipulation, a case that has loomed over the South Korean conglomerate since 2015, Reuters reports.

The court’s decision surprised some analysts who had expected Lee to receive at least a suspended sentence in the case that has shaken South Korea’s business environment.

“The job of entrepreneurs and business leaders is to drive innovation and create jobs, but Samsung couldn’t do much for 9 years because of legal risks,” Kim Ki-chan, professor of economics and entrepreneurship at Catholic University. Korea.

He added that due to legal problems, Samsung Electronics has implemented a rigid bureaucratic system that avoids risks.

Lee, 55, and other former Samsung executives were accused by prosecutors of orchestrating a major merger in 2015 between two other Samsung affiliates – Samsung C&T 028260 KS and Cheil Industries – in order to benefit themselves at the expense of minority shareholders. South Korean conglomerate.

Before the merger of the two companies, the Li family and its partners controlled Cheil, but not Samsung C&T 028260.KS, the main shareholder of Samsung Electronics, which is itself the most important company in the Samsung conglomerate.

Prosecutors had sought a five-year prison sentence for Lee, who denied all charges against him, saying he and other company executives believed the merger would be in the best interests of shareholders.

Judges in South Korea found the chairman of Samsung and other defendants not guilty

A three-judge panel in Seoul ruled in their favor, noting that the decision to merge the two companies was made by their boards of directors after careful analysis and review of the move.

“It cannot be inferred that his sole purpose was to enhance the driving license of the accused Lee Jae-yong,” one of the judges said during the ruling.

Along with Lee, all 13 other defendants were also acquitted.

Monday’s sentence is a major victory for Lee Jae-yong, who was already convicted in 2017 of bribing a close associate of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

He was sentenced to 5 years in prison, but after an appeal the sentence was reduced to two and a half years. He eventually spent a year and a half in prison before being pardoned by the current president of South Korea, Yoon Suk-yeol.

At the time of the pardon, South Korea’s presidential government said Lee was needed to deal with a “national economic crisis.”

South Korea’s economy is still dominated by family businesses

But Monday’s ruling in that particular case is not final, as it could be appealed by prosecutors in an appeals court.

South Korea’s biggest conglomerates are still owned and controlled by their founding families, and public opinion in the Asian nation has for decades oscillated between anger at the many scandals they have been embroiled in and gratitude for being credited with much of its economic prosperity.

Public opinion polls conducted in recent years show that South Koreans’ perception of large conglomerates has become more favorable as their executives have tried to appear more attractive through public appearances and social media presence.

The Lee family and legal entities controlled by it own 20.7% of Samsung Electronics.