“The prosecution on Monday asked a Seoul court to sentence Samsung Group’s heir apparent Lee Jae-yong to 12 years in jail for alleged bribery in connection with the corruption scandal that led to former President Park Geun-hye’s ouster,” Ock Hyun-ju reports for The Korea Herald. “The court will rule on Aug. 25.”
“At the final hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court, Special Counsel Park Youg-soo said that the Samsung Electronics vice chairman was a direct beneficiary and final decision maker in the bribery scheme,” Ock reports. “The 49-year-old billionaire heir was indicted on Feb. 28 on charges of bribery, embezzlement and perjury for allegedly seeking political favors from the Park administration in return for paying or promising to pay 43.4 billion won in donations to foundations controlled by Park’s close confidante Choi Soon-sil and in sports sponsorship to Choi’s horse-riding daughter.”
“Special Counsel claimed that the money was a bribe to win the government’s backing for the 2015 merger of Samsung Group’s two affiliates — Cheil Industries and Samsung C&T — a crucial step for a smooth leadership transition from its ailing chairman Lee Kun-hee to his only son, Lee Jae-yong. Former President Park, in return for the money, is suspected of having pressured the state-funded National Pension Service, the largest stakeholder in Samsung C&T, to vote in favor of the controversial merger,” Ock reports. “Lee choked up with emotion and had to take a sip of water several times to calm himself during his five-minute speech as he vehemently denied all charges.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We’ll see if the Republic of Samsung has the testicular fortitude to throw the book at him or if he manages to get slither off the hook.
Samsung is intertwined into South Korea like a stage IV cancer.
SEE ALSO:
Samsung’s acting head Lee Jae-yong indicted on bribery charges as scandal grows – February 28, 2017
South Korean court approves arrest of Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong – February 16, 2017
South Korean prosecution again seeks arrest of Samsung chief – February 14, 2017
Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong escapes arrest in massive bribery scandal – January 20, 2017
South Korea attempting to handicap Apple by demanding the removal of preinstalled apps like the App Store – July 7, 2016
Korea Fair Trade Commission clears Samsung’s use of standard-essential patents against Apple – February 27, 2014
South Korea, the Republic of Samsung – December 10, 2012
Welcome to South Korea, the ‘Republic of Forgery’ – September 11, 2012
Samsung’s ‘Instinct’ is obviously to make Apple iPhone knockoffs – April 1, 2008
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Michael Miller” for the heads up.]