{"id":347881,"date":"2017-08-25T06:20:58","date_gmt":"2017-08-25T06:20:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=347881"},"modified":"2017-11-10T14:48:12","modified_gmt":"2017-11-10T14:48:12","slug":"samsung-heir-lee-jae-yong-faces-verdict-in-his-bribery-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/08\/samsung-heir-lee-jae-yong-faces-verdict-in-his-bribery-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong faces verdict in his bribery trial"},"content":{"rendered":"
A court in Seoul is set to decide whether the billionaire heir-apparent of the Samsung conglomerate will be jailed for corruption.<\/p>\n
Lee Jae-yong is facing accusations of bribery linked to a scandal that triggered the impeachment of South Korea’s former president.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors are asking for a 12-year jail sentence. He denies all charges.<\/p>\n
The case has gripped the public amid growing anger against South Korea’s biggest companies, known as chaebols.<\/p>\n
Mr Lee, also known as Jay Y Lee, has been detained since February on a string of corruption charges including bribery, embezzlement and hiding assets overseas.<\/p>\n
He stands accused of giving donations worth 41bn won ($36m; \u00a329m) to non-profit foundations operated by Choi Soon-sil, a friend of South Korea’s former President Park Geun-hye, in return for political favours.<\/p>\n
The 49-year-old had been standing in as chairman for his ill father, Lee Kun-hee, who suffered a heart attack and slipped into a coma in 2014.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors alleged that the donations were made to Ms Park’s confidante to win government support for a big restructuring of Samsung that would strengthen Mr Lee’s control over Samsung Electronics.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But the defence said he was not involved in making day-to-day business decisions at South Korea’s biggest conglomerate and that the payments were signed off without his knowledge.<\/p>\n
The charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, but he would almost certainly appeal against any conviction.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Yet he may yet escape a jail term even if he is convicted. Many top executives of South Korea’s biggest companies, including his father, have been convicted of crimes but were pardoned.<\/p>\n
Mr Lee is the most high-profile figure arrested in the investigation and was charged along with four other Samsung executives.<\/p>\n
They include former Samsung Group vice-chairman Choi Gee-sung, former president Chang Choong-ki, former Samsung Electronics president Park Sang-jin and executive vice-president Hwang Sung-soo.<\/p>\n
Three of them resigned after the case emerged but have denied all the charges including bribery and hiding assets.<\/p>\n
They stand accused of bribing Park to pave the way for the merger of two publicly owned Samsung companies, despite opposition from shareholders.<\/p>\n