Samsung’s Top Executive gets 30 Months in Prison for Bribery

[upnorth]

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https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/01/samsungs-top-executive-gets-30-months-in-prison-for-bribery/

It's back to jail for Samsung's leader, Lee Jae-yong (aka Jay Y. Lee). Lee has been embroiled in a legal battle for his role in "Choigate," a major 2016 South Korean political scandal that led to South Korean President Park Geun-hye being impeached and removed from office. The scandal is named for the president's top aid, Choi Soon-sil, a member of a shamanistic cult that was found to be masterminding South Korean government policy via her influence over the president. It's a long story, but Choi was sentenced to 20 years in prison for influence peddling, and Park was sentenced to 25 years.

Samsung's part in this mess involves accusations that Lee bribed Choi for favorable rulings related to the merger of two Samsung affiliates. In 2017, Lee was sentenced to five years in jail after being found guilty of bribery, embezzlement, capital flight, and perjury charges. Six months after his sentencing, an appeals court cut Lee's sentence in half and suspended the charges for bribery and embezzlement. Lee was released from prison while the appeals process continued. The case wound its way all the way up to the South Korean Supreme Court, which, in 2019, ordered a retrial.

Lee's initial conviction and the constant whittling down of punishment has been par for the course for Samsung executives accused of crimes in South Korea. Samsung is so large that it makes up anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of South Korea's GDP, depending on the year, so there is a fear of what damaging the company would do to South Korea's economy.

Samsung’s top executive gets 30 months in prison for bribery

Samsung leader Lee Jae-yong’s original five-year sentence has been cut down to 30 months.

arstechnica.com