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posted by martyb on Saturday August 26 2017, @03:29PM   Printer-friendly
from the Is-five-years-too-long-for-Lee-Jae-yong? dept.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman and "de facto chief" of Samsung Lee Jae-yong (aka Jay Y. Lee) has been sentenced to five years in prison for bribery, embezzlement, perjury, and other charges:

A South Korean court has found Lee Jae-yong, the de facto chief of the sprawling Samsung business empire, guilty of bribery and other corruption charges. Lee, the billionaire son of Samsung's ailing chairman, was sentenced to five years in prison on Friday, well short of the 12-year sentence prosecutors had sought. The criminal conviction is a blow for Samsung, the world's largest smartphone maker and South Korea's biggest family-run conglomerate whose businesses are estimated to account for around 15% of the country's entire economy.

The so-called "trial of the century" has gripped South Korea for months. It's part of a huge influence-peddling scandal that brought down the government of former President Park Geun-hye. "The public is disappointed that this kind of large-scale crime caused by cozy relations between politics and business still happens -- it's not in the past but remains a reality," Judge Kim Jin-dong said in court. He also laid some of the blame on Park, saying the former president made "aggressive demands" of Samsung.

[...] Samsung Electronics' (SSNLF) shares closed down 1.1% in Seoul following the verdict Friday. But the stock is still not far below the record high it hit last month. And although the guilty verdict is a black mark on Samsung's reputation, analysts said Lee's prison sentence is unlikely to affect the tech giant's day-to-day operations. The company has continued to post strong profits since he was first detained in the case.

Lee is following in the footsteps of many other chiefs of South Korea's big family-run conglomerates, known as chaebol. His father, Samsung chairman Lee Kun-hee, was twice sentenced to prison -- and twice pardoned. Serving jail time "is like a rite of passage," David Kang, director of the University of Southern California's Korean Studies Institute, said in an interview before the verdict was announced. "The question will really be how long does he serve."

Lee will appeal the conviction.

Also at Bloomberg (opinion) and NPR (analysis).

Previously: Warrant Sought for the Arrest of Samsung's Vice Chairman
Samsung Vice Chairman a Suspect in South Korean Presidential Bribery Probe
President Park Geun-hye's Impeachment Upheld as South Korea's "Trial of the Century" Begins
Samsung Vice Chairman Ruling Expected on August 25


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  • (Score: 2) by kazzie on Saturday August 26 2017, @08:32PM

    by kazzie (5309) Subscriber Badge on Saturday August 26 2017, @08:32PM (#559574)

    I'd send a bottle of Tipp-ex to help make your text white again, but you'd probably insist on using Wite-Out instead.

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