In September 2020, Lee, then the vice-chair of Samsung Electronics, along with other former Samsung executives were indicted for advocating the merging of Cheil Industries, Samsung’s textile affiliate, with Samsung C&T, its construction unit, to take over the tech giant’s management controls in 2015.
They were also accused of inflating the stock price of Cheil and Samsung C&T and fraudulent accounting at Samsung Biologics, in which Cheil held a significant stake, as part of the same case. The prosecution claimed that Samsung had a strategy to merge that helped Lee solidify his control and take over management rights.