A court on Friday sentenced the billionaire head of South Korea’s Samsung Group, Jay Lee, to five years in prison for bribery.
After a six-month trial over a scandal that brought down the then president, Park Geun-hye, a court ruled that Lee had paid bribes in anticipation of favors from Park.
The court also found Lee guilty of hiding assets abroad, embezzlement and perjury.
Lee, the 49-year-old heir to one of the world’s biggest corporate empires, has been held since February on charges that he bribed Park to help secure control of a conglomerate that owns Samsung Electronics,.
Lee, who re-emerged stony-faced from the courtroom in a dark suit, but without a tie, and holding a document envelope, was escorted by justice ministry officials back to his detention center.
“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,” Seoul Central District Court Judge Kim Jin-dong said, using Lee’s Korean name.
Kim said that as the group’s heir apparent, Lee “stood to benefit the most” 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, one of the longest given to a South Korean business leader, is a landmark for South Korea, where the family-run conglomerates, known as chaebols, have long been revered for helping transform the once war-ravaged country into a global economic powerhouse.
They have more recently been criticized for holding back the economy and stifling small businesses and start-ups.
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