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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 that, Lee will be left out of major decision-making at Samsung Electronics for the time being as he strives to overtake his competition. He will also be unable to oversee the process of inheritance from his father, who died in October, crucial to maintaining 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.
The Seoul High Court found Lee guilty of bribery, embezzlement and concealment of criminal proceeds worth around 8.6 billion won ($ 7.8 million), and declared that the compliance committee independent that Samsung had put in place at the beginning of last year was not yet fully effective.
“(Lee) has shown a management will with a newly stronger compliance, as he has promised to create a transparent company,” said presiding judge Jeong Jun-yeong.
“Despite some shortcomings … I hope that over time it will be assessed as a milestone in the history of Korean companies as a start of compliance ethics for a greater leap forward,” he said. -he declares.
Lee, dressed in a dark coat and silver tie and standing to hear the condemnation, sat down after his reading.
“The nature of this case is the abuse of power by the former president violating business freedom and property rights. Given this nature, the court’s decision is regrettable, ”Lee’s attorney, Lee In-jae, told reporters.
With Lee’s return to prison, the year he has already served his sentence should count towards sentencing – leaving 18 months of his sentence to serve.
Monday’s conviction can be appealed to the Supreme Court within seven days, the judge said, but legal experts said that as the Supreme Court has already ruled once on the issue, it is less likely that its legal interpretation will change.
Shares of Samsung Electronics fell 4% after the decision, while shares of affiliates such as Samsung C&T, Samsung Life Insurance and Samsung SDI also fell sharply.
Reporting by Joyce Lee; additional reporting by Choonsik Yoo. Editing by Gerry Doyle
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