Samsung heir Lee Jae Yong has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison over a bribery scandal. The news arrives after a high court in South Korea passed the judgment over the company’s head.
According to a BBC report, the bribery case is a retrial of a bribery case, which even involved the country’s previous President, Park Geun-hye, who also faced prison term for bribery and corruption charges. For those unaware, Lee has been the head of Samsung Electronics since 2014, although, the recent ruling will likely have impacts on his current role in the South Korean tech giant. Notably, the news of the prison term on Lee Jae Yong caused the company’s shares to plummet by more than 4 percent.
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Furthermore, the prison sentence will temporarily have Lee be separated from being involved in any decision making process involving him in Samsung. Kim Dae-jong, a business professor at Sejong University, told news agency AFP that “It’s really a huge blow and a big crisis for Samsung.” Back in 2014, Lee had assumed the leadership of the company after his father Lee Kun-hee was forced to step down over health related issues.
As per the court’s ruling, Lee “actively provided bribes and implicitly asked the president to use her power to help his smooth succession” as the head of Samsung. “It is very unfortunate that Samsung, the country’s top company and proud global innovator, is repeatedly involved in crimes whenever there is a change in political power.” The court found that Lee is responsible for 8.6 billion won (roughly 7.8 million US Dollars) worth of bribery, embezzlement, and concealment of criminal proceeds.
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