November 23, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Prosecutors asked an appellate court on Dec. 27 to sentence Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong to 12 years in prison for bribery and other crimes, maintaining their initial request for punishment from the lower court trial.

The 49-year-old scion of South Korea‘s richest conglomerate received a five-year jail term on Aug. 25 after being convicted on five charges, including bribery, embezzlement and hiding assets overseas.

He was found guilty of providing 8.82 billion won (US$8.2 million) in bribes to Choi Soon-sil, a longtime friend and confidante of former President Park Geun-hye, in connection with a massive influence-peddling scandal that led to Park’s ousting in March.

Prosecutors also maintained their sentence demands for four top Samsung executives: 10 years each for Choi Gee-sung, former head of Samsung‘s now-disbanded control tower Future Strategy Office, and his former deputy, Chang Choong-ki, and seven years each for Park Sang-jin, a former president of Samsung Electronics, and another former president, Hwang Sung-soo. They were convicted of similar charges and sentenced to four years in prison or given suspended terms by the lower court.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)