The de facto chief of South Korea’s Samsung business empire was yesterday convicted over a huge corruption scandal and jailed for two-and-a-half years, in a ruling that deprives the tech giant of its top decisionmaker.
Jay Y. Lee, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics Co, the world’s biggest smartphone and memorychip maker, was found guilty of bribery and embezzlement in connection with the scandal that brought down former South Korean president Park Geun-hye.
Lee “actively provided bribes and implicitly asked the president to use her power to help his smooth succession” at the head of the sprawling conglomerate, the Seoul Central District Court said in its verdict.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“It is very unfortunate that Samsung, the country’s top company and proud global innovator, is repeatedly involved in crimes whenever there is a change in political power,” it said.
It concluded a retrial that was the latest step in a long-running legal process that has hung over Samsung for years.
The multibillionaire Lee — who had earlier walked into court grim-faced and wearing a mask, without responding to reporters’ shouted questions — was immediately taken into custody.
He has effectively been at the head of the Samsung Group for several years after his father was left bedridden by a heart attack, finally dying in October.
“This is essentially a case where the freedom and property rights of a company were violated by the former president’s abuse of power,” Lee’s lawyer, Lee In-jae, told reporters.
“Given the nature of the matter, I find the court’s ruling regrettable,” he said.
Experts say the sentence would create a leadership vacuum that could hamper Samsung’s decisionmaking on large-scale investments.
“It’s really a huge blow and a big crisis for Samsung,” said Kim Dae-jong, a business professor at Sejong University.
Samsung Electronics, the group’s flagship subsidiary, declined to comment on the ruling.
“Considering Samsung’s share of the [South] Korean economy and its status as a global company, the ruling is feared to have a negative impact on the overall [South] Korean economy,” the Federation of Korean Industries said in a statement.
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