SEOUL, South Korea (AP) – Samsung leader Lee Jae-yong and prosecutors have decided not to appeal a court ruling that found him guilty of bribing South Korea’s former business gun president, who a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for the country confirmed the most influential corporate leader, according to lawyers and court officials, on Monday.
But Lee’s legal problems are not over yet. He was separately charged with charges of share price manipulation, breach of trust and breach of the audit related to a 2015 merger between two Samsung subsidiaries. The deal strengthened Lee’s control of Samsung’s corporate empire.
The bribery allegation about Lee was a major crime in the 2016 corruption scandal that drove Park Geun-hye from the presidency and sent her to jail.
In a long-awaited retrial of Lee last week, the Seoul Supreme Court found him guilty of bribing Park and one of her closest confidants to win government support for the controversial merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, which helped to strengthen Lee’s control over Samsung’s business. rich.
The deal faced opposition from some shareholders who argued that it unfairly benefited the Lee family and only succeeded with the support of a state-owned national pension fund, one of Samsung’s largest investors.
Lee portrayed himself as a victim of abuse of power by the president, and his lawyers criticized the ruling. Lee decided to humbly accept the decision of the Supreme Court, his chief advocate, Injae Lee, said.
Prosecutors have sentenced Lee Jae-yong to nine years in prison. In a statement released to local media, they said the court was too lenient with Lee given the seriousness of his crimes, but they would not appeal because their main purpose was to prove that the payments between Lee and Park was bribes.
Samsung has not released a statement on Lee’s legal issues.
Lee, 52, leads the Samsung group in his capacity as vice president of Samsung Electronics, one of the largest manufacturers of computer chips and smartphones in the world.
Like other family conglomerates in South Korea, Samsung is credited with pushing the country’s economy into one of the largest in the world from the rubble of the Korean War from 1950 to 53. But their opaque ownership structures and often corrupt ties with bureaucrats and government officials are seen in South Korea as a hotbed of corruption.
Although he never conceded to lawful transgressions, he expressed remorse for causing ‘public concern’ about the corruption scandal, and worked to improve Samsung’s image. He stated that the transfer of inheritance would end with Samsung, promising that the driving rights he inherited from his father would not be transferred to his children. He also said Samsung would stop suppressing employee efforts to organize unions, although labor activists questioned its sincerity.
It is not immediately clear what his jail term would mean for Samsung’s business. Samsung showed no specific signs of problems when Lee was in jail in 2017 and 2018. Imprisonment has never stopped Korean corporate leaders from passing on their business decisions from behind bars.
The Supreme Court earlier this month upheld a 20-year prison sentence at Park for the Samsung case and other bribes and extortion while she was in office from 2013 to 2016.