SEOUL: A South Korean court on Friday (Aug 25) found Lee Jae-yong, the billionaire head of Samsung Group, guilty of corruption charges after a six-month trial in a nationwide bribery scandal that triggered the dismissal from office of the country's president. Lee denied the charges - which included bribery, embezzlement, perjury, concealment of criminal proceeds, and illicit transfer of assets abroad - but has been found guilty by South Korea's courts and sentenced to five years imprisonment, lower than the 12-year sentence requested by the prosecution. Lee, the 49-year-old heir to one of the world's biggest corporate empires, has been held since February on charges that he bribed then president Park Geun-hye to help secure control of a conglomerate that owns Samsung Electronics, the world's leading smartphone and chip maker, and has interests ranging from drugs and home appliances to insurance and hotels. Also known under the Anglicised name Jay Y. Lee, Lee Jae-yong was arrested in February this year following an appeal to the Seoul Central District Court by special counsel investigating alleged bribery and wrongdoing by South Korean President Park Geun-hye. Whatever Friday's verdict, lawyers expect an appeal which could go all the way to the Supreme Court, with a final ruling probably next year. The five year-sentence - one of the longest given to a South Korean business leader - is a landmark for South Korea, where the family-run conglomerates, known as chaebols, have long been revered for helping transform the once war-ravaged country into a global economic powerhouse. But over the years, it has also come to epitomize the cosy ties between politicians and powerful family-controlled business groups - or chaebols - which have been implicated in a series of corruption scandals. The firms have long had murky connections with political authorities in South Korea, and past trials of their leaders have often ended with light or suspended sentences, with courts citing their contributions to the economy. LEADERSHIP VACUUM

The third-generation de facto head of the powerful Samsung Group, Lee has effectively directed operations since his father, Lee Kun-hee, was incapacitated by a heart attack in 2014. South Korea's new president, Moon Jae-in, who replaced the disgraced Park after a May 9 election, has pledged to rein in the chaebols, empower minority shareholders and end the practice of pardoning corporate tycoons convicted of white-collar crime. In return for the contributions, prosecutors say, Samsung sought government support for a controversial 2015 merger of two of its affiliates, which helped Lee tighten his control of the conglomerate. The ruling is expected to affect the verdict in Park's own corruption trial, expected later this year, as prosecutors argued she and Lee took part in the same act of bribery.
Lee Jae-yong (Jay Y. Lee), the vice-chairman of the Samsung Group is sentenced to five years for graft for his involvement in the 2016 South Korean political scandal that led to the impeachment of President of South Korea Park Geun-hye.