Lee was first jailed for five years in 2017, after Park's ouster. The scandal highlighted shady connections between big business and politics in South Korea, with the ousted president and her friend accused of taking bribes from corporate bigwigs in exchange for preferential treatment.
The case centres on millions of dollars the Samsung group paid Park's secret confidante Choi Soon-sil, allegedly for government favours including ensuring a smooth transition for Lee to succeed his then-ailing father. Like many tech firms, its shares have risen significantly during the coronavirus pandemic, more than doubling from their lows in March, but closed down 3.4% on Monday. Samsung Electronics, the group's flagship subsidiary, declined to comment on Monday's ruling. "It's really a huge blow and a big crisis for Samsung," said Kim Dae-jong, a business professor at Sejong University. Its rise has been driven by a willingness to invest billions in strategic bets on key technologies.īut experts say the sentence will create a leadership vacuum that could hamper its decision-making on future large-scale investments. Its overall turnover is equivalent to a fifth of the national gross domestic product and it is crucial to South Korea's economic health. Samsung is by far the biggest of the family-controlled conglomerates, or chaebols, that dominate business in the world's 12th-largest economy. "Given the nature of the matter, I find the court's ruling regrettable." "This is essentially a case where the freedom and property rights of a company were violated by the former president's abuse of power," Lee's lawyer, Lee In-jae, told reporters. He has effectively been at the head of the entire Samsung group for several years after his father was left bedridden by a heart attack, finally dying in October. The multi-billionaire Lee - who had earlier walked into court grim-faced and wearing a facemask, without responding to reporters' shouted questions - was immediately taken into custody. It jailed him for two and a half years, concluding a retrial that was the latest step in a long-running legal process that has hung over Samsung for years. "It is very unfortunate that Samsung, the country's top company and proud global innovator, is repeatedly involved in crimes whenever there is a change in political power."
Lee "actively provided bribes and implicitly asked the president to use her power to help his smooth succession" at the head of the sprawling conglomerate, the Seoul Central District Court said in its verdict. Lee Jae-yong, vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest smartphone and memory chip maker, was found guilty of bribery and embezzlement in connection with the scandal that brought down president Park Geun-hye. SEOUL - The de facto chief of South Korea's Samsung business empire was convicted Monday over a huge corruption scandal and jailed for two and a half years, in a ruling that deprives the tech giant of its top decision-maker.
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