Samsung’s Lee sentenced to 30 months in prison for corruption

SEOUL (Reuters) – A South Korean court has sentenced Samsung Electronics’ vice president Jay Y. Lee to two and a half years in prison, the court said on Monday, which will have major ramifications for its leadership of the giant of technology as well as for the opinions of Korea. towards large companies.

With it, Lee will be sidelined from major decision-making at Samsung Electronics as he strives to overtake his competition and oversee the legacy process from his father, who died in October, crucial to keeping control of Samsung.

Lee, 52, was convicted of bribing an associate of former President Park Geun-hye and jailed for five years in 2017. He denied the wrongdoing, the sentence was reduced and stayed on appeal, and he was released after serving one year.

The Supreme Court then sent the case back to the Seoul High Court, which delivered Monday’s ruling.

Under South Korean law, only a prison sentence of three years or less can be suspended. For longer sentences, the person must serve the sentence of exclusion from a presidential pardon. With Lee’s return to prison, the year he has already served his sentence should count towards the sentence.

Monday’s conviction may be appealed to the Supreme Court, but as the Supreme Court has already ruled once, chances are lower that the legal interpretation will change, legal experts have said.

“In a case referred by the Supreme Court, there is a narrower range of options for the bench … but it is also true that the Supreme Court cannot really touch on the final conviction of the court,” he said. said Rha Seung-chul, a lawyer unrelated to the case.