Technical / Samsung Vice Chairman gets 2.5-yr jail term in retrial of bribery case

A South Korean court has sentenced Samsung's Vice Chairman Jay Y Lee to two and a half years in prison during the retrial of a 2016 bribery case. In 2017, Lee was convicted and sentenced for five years in jail for bribing an associate of former South Korean President Park Geun-hye. His sentence was later reduced and suspended on appeal.

Vikrant Shekhawat : Jan 18, 2021, 06:18 PM
Technical Desk: According to Yonhap news agency, Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong was jailed for 2.5 years over his bribery corruption scandal. Lee was earlier sentenced to five years in jail in the bribery case; however, an appeals court had dismissed most of the charges and suspended sentence in 2018.

The Supreme Court back in August 2019 had ordered the appellate court to review its suspended jail sentence for Lee. The Samsung heir was reportedly jailed over bribing a confidante of jailed President Park Geun-hye.

On Monday, the sentencing hearing was a retrial for Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong after Supreme Court intervened in the matter.

Notably, the corruption investigation was lead by Kim Jin-wook, who was nominated by the President Moon Jae-in. According to Yonhap news agency, Kim was the inaugural chief of the Corruption Investigation Office for high-ranking officials.

Lee, aged 52, has been surrounded by legal troubles for some years now. With the sentencing on Monday, Lee is set to be sidelined from the company, which is one of the major chip and smartphone makers globally.

Taking a departure from the family tradition, Lee last year in May had confirmed that his children would not be handed over management rights. He has also apologised for his executives' behaviour who were caught sabotaging labour union activities, according to Reuters.