Samsung heir Jay Y. Lee sentenced to 5 years in prison for bribery

The heir apparent to the Samsung empire, Jay Y. Lee has been sentenced to 5 years in prison for bribery, embezzlement, capital flight and perjury charges.

49-year-old Lee has been in detention since February 2017. He proclaimed his innocence throughout the trial and his lawyer said he would appeal the verdict. Other former Samsung executives convicted with Mr Lee include former Samsung Corporate Strategy Office chief Choi Gee-sung and former President Chang Choong-ki. They were each sentenced to four years in prison. Two other executives got suspended prison terms.

Dubbed the “Trial of the Century,” this trial has shone a spotlight on the interaction between South Korea’s chaebol and the political elite. Through hundreds of hours of testimony from dozens of witnesses, prosecutors sought to draw a link between backing from a state-run pension for a 2015 merger of Samsung affiliates and money paid to a confidante of then president Park Geun-hye, including an $800,000 horse for the friend’s daughter.

In his defence, Lee testified that he knew little about Samsung affiliates other than the electronics business, and that he wasn’t part of the approval or decision-making process.

Lee joins the list of Korean business leaders to be convicted of corrupt behaviour, one that already includes his father Lee Kun-hee. The elder Lee received a suspended three-year prison sentence for evading taxes and embezzling corporate money.

Mr Lee has been at the helm of the company since his father’s 2014 heart attack.