S. KOREAN COURT FREES SAMSUNG HEIR
Appeals court suspends jail sentence, cites ‘passive compliance to political power’
AN appeals court yesterday suspended a jail sentence handed down to Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee, setting him free after a year’s detention amid a corruption scandal that brought down the former president.
Seoul High Court jailed Lee for 2½ years, reducing the original term by half, and suspended the sentence for charges including bribery and embezzlement, meaning he does not have to serve time.
Lee, 49, heir to one of the world’s biggest corporate empires, had been detained since February last year.
President Park Geun-hye was dismissed in March last year after being impeached in a case that brought scrutiny to the nature of the ties between South Korea’s chaebols — big familyowned corporate groups — and its political leaders.
A lower court in August convicted Lee for bribing Park for help in strengthening his control of Samsung Electronics, the crown jewel of the country’s largest conglomerate and one of the world’s biggest technology companies, as well as embezzlement and other charges.
The court said Samsung’s financial support for entities backed by a friend of Park’s, Choi Soon-sil, constituted bribery, including 7.2 billion won (RM25.6 million) to sponsor the equestrian career of Choi’s daughter.
Presiding senior judge Cheong Hyung-sik yesterday called the nature of Lee’s involvement in Samsung’s monetary support for Choi a “passive compliance to political power”.
Lee did not show any emotion when the ruling was announced.
Prosecutors had sought a 12- year jail term for Lee. The ruling was expected to be appealed again to the Supreme Court, said legal experts.
With the end of his detention, Lee could continue with his existing roles, including as director of Samsung Electronics.
However he had been found guilty of some lesser charges and was prohibited from travelling outside South Korea without a judge’s approval, according to law firm Cho & Partners. Reuters