Samsung heir handed 5-year jail term for corruption

Lee Jae-yong, Samsung’s acting chairman, has been sentenced to five years in prison for bribery by a South Korean court.

After a six-month trial, the 49-year-old was convicted of crimes, including bribery, embezzlement, and perjury as the court ruled that he had paid bribes in anticipation of favours from Park Geun-Hye, former president of South Korea, who is also on trial.

Prosecutors successfully argued that the bribes were used to secure government approval for a merger between two Samsung affiliates that was crucial for Lee to affirm his leadership of the organisation.

“This case is a matter of Lee Jae-yong and Samsung Group executives, who had been steadily preparing for Lee’s succession … bribing the president,” NAN quoted Seoul Central district court judge, Kim Jin-dong, as saying.

“This is a case where political power and business power colluded immorally. It won’t be easy for the public to regain trust in our institutions as these corrupt ties between the president and big conglomerates are still present, not something that happened in the past. Especially, as the defendants are the representatives of Samsung Group, the negative impact that this case has on our society and economy is very big.”

Kim said Lee “stood to benefit the most” as the group’s heir apparent from any political favors for Samsung.

Lee denied wrongdoing, and one of his lawyers, Song Wu-Cheol, said he would appeal.

“The entire verdict is unacceptable,” Song said, adding that he was confident his client’s innocence would be affirmed by a higher court.

The five-year sentence is one of the longest ever given to a South Korean business leader. Under South Korean law, sentences of more than three years cannot be suspended.

The third-generation de facto head of the Samsung Group, Lee, has directed operations since his father, Lee Kun-hee, was incapacitated by a heart attack in 2014.

Many tycoons, including Lee’s father, were convicted of crimes in the past, ranging from bribery, embezzlement and tax evasion, only to get presidential pardons, as both the government and the public feared that going too hard on them would hurt the economy.

Two other Samsung executives, Choi Gee-sung and Jang Choong-ki, were also convicted in the same trial and sentenced to four years in prison.