Samsung leader Jay Y. Lee’s trial, in a case of suspected accounting fraud and stock price manipulation connected to a 2015 merger, began on Thursday as a Seoul court held its first hearing. Lee and 10 other current and former Samsung executives were indicted by South Korean prosecutors last month over the merger of two Samsung affiliates that helped Lee assume greater control of the group’s flagship Samsung Electronics . Lee, 52, did not attend the preparatory hearing at the Seoul Central District Court.
