Lee Man-gyu, CEO of Ananti, who was brought to trial on charges of falsifying accounting books and disclosing them, was also acquitted on appeal.
The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Appeals Division 4-1 (Presiding Judges Song Jung-ho, Eom Cheol and Yoon Won-muk) on the 18th found CEO Lee and Lee's younger sibling, a former Ananti chief financial officer (CFO) indicted on charges of violating the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act and the External Audit Act, not guilty, the same as in the first trial.
The court said, "It is proper that the court of first instance, based on the evidence, found all the charges not guilty." It added, "The witness testimony additionally examined at this court is no different from the evidence submitted at the court of first instance and does not affect the judgment."
CEO Lee and the former CFO were brought to trial after alleged accounting fraud emerged during an investigation into the so-called "under-the-table real estate deal" between Ananti and Samsung Life Insurance. Prosecutors said they treated tens of billions of won in company funds from 2015–2016, which could not be substantiated with expenditure records, as advances and dressed up the books to make the financial statements appear problem-free.
Prosecutors first indicted the former CFO in Mar. 2023. They then additionally brought CEO Lee to trial in Apr. 2024. The first trial found not guilty, saying that based on the evidence submitted by prosecutors alone, it was difficult to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that false financial statements were prepared and disclosed.
The case began with allegations that arose as Ananti, after purchasing land and a building in Songpa-gu, Seoul, in 2009, resold them to Samsung Life Insurance. In Apr. 2009, Ananti agreed to purchase the property for a total of 50 billion won and, before paying the balance, in Jun. of the same year, signed a contract to resell it to Samsung Life Insurance for about 97 billion won.
Prosecutors suspected that employees of Samsung Life Insurance at the time purchased the real estate at a price higher than market value, causing losses to the company, and that the Ananti side siphoned off company funds in return and delivered money and valuables to Samsung Life Insurance officials. However, the appellate court in this case found that the charges of false disclosure by CEO Lee and others were not proven.