Samsung heir jailed for five years for corruption

A South Korean court has handed down a five-year sentence to Samsung’s heir apparent Lee Jae-yong in an ongoing corruption scandal.

Samsung’s de-facto chief, Jay Y. Lee, has been sentenced to a five-year jail term after a court in South Korea found him guilty of embezzlement, perjury and bribery to get government favors for the Korean electronics giant.

Lee is also accused of embezzling the alleged bribes from his publicly traded conglomerate and on the technical charge of hiding assets overseas since Choi’s daughter lived in Germany.

The court sided with the prosecution for accusing Lee and other Samsung executives of handing over a total of 43.3 billion won ($38.4 billion) in return for “implied” favoritism and exercise of state authority to assist the scion’s hereditary succession.

The Seoul Central District Court will deliver its verdict in the case on Friday. Lee was arrested in February and the trial lasted six months.

The corruption scandal has also resulted in the conviction of another close associate of Park’s, Choi Soon-sil, who was sentenced to three years in jail in June.

Lee Kun-hee, was incapacitated following a heart attack in 2014.

“The essence of the case is collusive ties between political power and capital power”, Judge Kim Jin-dong said, according to The Korea Herald.

March, 2017: The special prosecutor says Park colluded with Choi to take bribes from the Samsung Group, paving the way for her to be prosecuted, if she is ousted from office.

Samsung shares fell by 1.5 percent following the verdict. Remember, the elder Lee had been previously convicted of tax evasion and bribery, only to be later pardoned – twice. This included government approval of a $8 billion merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015.

Samsung is a family owned and controlled conglomerate called a chaebol that was integral to the growth and development of South Korea’s industrial prowess. A decision on her charges, to which she has pleaded guilty, is expected in October.

Samsung Electronics posted a record profit of 11tn won for the latest quarter and the firm has released its new flagship Galaxy S8 smartphone, closing the book on the disastrous recall of the exploding Galaxy Note 7.