Samsung Heir Bags 5-Year Jail Term

Lee Jae-yong, the acting chairman of Samsung has been sentenced to five years in prison for corruption.

A court in South Korea sentenced the heir apparent to the Samsung empire on Friday in a scandal that has gripped the country for many months.

Lee is being accused of making large donations worth $36m to foundations run by a close friend and confidante of the deposed South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, in return for political favours.

The acting head of the world’s largest smartphone maker had been detained since February on a string of corruption charges, including bribery, embezzlement and hiding assets overseas.

Prosecutors said the donations were made to Ms Park’s confidante to win government support for a big restructuring of Samsung that would strengthen Lee’s control over Samsung Electronics.

Lee, who denied the charges, said the payments were signed off without his knowledge.

The decision also raises questions about Mr Lee’s plans to officially take over the business from his ailing father, chairman Lee Kun-hee, who has been incapacitated since a heart attack in 2014.

His lawyer said on Friday they would appeal against the court’s decision.

“We are confident the ruling will be overturned,” Song Wu-cheol said.

Despite the controversies, Samsung stocks continue to boom, last month, it overtook Apple to become the world’s most profitable technology company after raking in quarterly profits of $9.9bn.