Samsung heir Jay Y Lee jailed for five years

A lawyer for Samsung Group said on Friday the defence team could not accept a court ruling and will file an appeal

SEOUL: A South Korean court jailed Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jay Y Lee for five years on Friday.

The Seoul Central District Court was delivering its verdict on charges against Lee, 49, ranging from bribery to perjury in a scandal that led to the ouster in March of the then president, Park Geun-hye. Lee, who denied wrongdoing, has been in detention since February.



Park, dismissed from office after public fury, is on trial separately accused of offering policy favours to tycoons including Lee who enriched her secret confidante Choi Soon-Sil, with Samsung handing over around $40 million.

Lee has been detained during his trial, and the prospect of his being imprisoned for years has sent shockwaves through Samsung, where the founding family’s rule has been taken for granted for decades.

The Lee clan directly owns about five per cent of Samsung Electronics shares, but maintains its grip on the wider group through a byzantine web of cross-ownership stakes involving dozens of companies.

Although Samsung’s day-to-day business is maintained by the elite CEOs at each unit, analysts say they would be unwilling to make — and take responsibility for — costly decisions over large-scale acquisitions or investments without family approval.

“In South Korea, such decisions are often endorsed by the patriarch of a ruling family,” said Chung Sun-Sup, the head of corporate analysis firm chaebul.com.

Despite Lee’s absence Samsung Electronics has reported stellar profits in recent months, sending its share price soaring, thanks to booming demand for its memory chips used in computers, servers and mobile gadgets.



Lawyer for South Korea's Samsung chief Lee says they will appeal

A lawyer for Samsung Group leader Jay Y Lee said on Friday the defence team could not accept a court ruling to jail Lee for five years for bribery and will appeal against the decision. "We are confident the ruling will be overturned," lawyer Song Wu-cheol told reporters after the ruling by the Seoul Central District Court.