Prosecutors have again sought a five-year prison sentence and a fine of 500-million-won, or some 380-thousand U.S. dollars, for Samsung Electronics Executive Chairman Lee Jae-yong on charges of market manipulation and accounting fraud.

The prosecution made the request on Monday at the Seoul High Court during the appeals trial of Lee, who was found not guilty in February in stock price rigging and accounting fraud connected to the controversial merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015.

The prosecutors’ demand to the court is the same as the one they had made to the Seoul Central District Court back in November 2023. 

In September 2020, Lee and others were indicted over allegations that Samsung management intentionally lowered the value of group affiliate Samsung C&T while inflating that of another affiliate, Cheil Industries, ahead of the 2015 merger to help benefit Lee in his ascension in the company.

They were also accused of accounting fraud at a third affiliate, Samsung Biologics, to help facilitate the merger, which ultimately helped an overhaul of the group’s governance structure by Lee.