Samsung heir faces five years in jail for corruption

Vice chairman of Samsung (KRX:005930) has been jailed for five years for bribery and perjury.

Heir to the world’s biggest maker of smartphones and memory chips, Jay Y Lee, was found guilty of bribery, perjury and embezzlement on Friday.

Lawyers for Lee have said they plan to appeal. “As a lawyer I cannot possibly agree with the juridical decisions and acknowledged facts involved in the verdict,”

“We will appeal against the decision and I am sure that in the appellate trial all the charges will be dismissed.”

Lee was accused of making large donations to foundations run by a close friend of South Korea’s President Park Geun-Hye. In return for the donations, Lee would seek political favours.

Since his arrest in February, the chief executive has insisted that the payments made were without his knowledge. He has also insisted that he had no expectation of favours from the Park administration.

Lee was not the only one from Samsung who was accused and found guilty. In addition to Lee, four more top Samsung executives were convicted and received sentences of up to four years.

Choi Gee-sung, Former Samsung Corporate Strategy Office chief and former President Chang Choong-ki were each sentenced to four years in prison. A further two executives get suspended prison terms.

The trial has transfixed South Korea, who have dubbed it “trial of the century”. 

“We were taken aback when he was arrested in February. But his conviction has come as a bigger shock.” said an insider from Samsung.

“The company has been in emergency mode due to the leadership vacuum. And Lee’s conviction means the emergency situation will continue for a long time.”

Before the verdict had been made, professor of economics at Seoul National University said: “Chaebol leaders used to get the same sentencing every time. There was even a saying called the ‘3-5 law’ – three years sentencing, five years’ probation.

“If Lee receives a heavy sentence, it can be seen as the shattering of the ‘too-big-to-jail’ trend of the past.”

Samsung shares have risen by 30 percent so far in 2017.