Samsung billionaire boss jailed five years for bribery

Samsung Electronics Co. Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, right, leaves after his verdict trial at the Seoul Central District Court. Photo / AP

The billionaire head of South Korea's Samsung Group, Lee Jae-yong, has been jailed for five years for bribery after a six-month trial over a scandal that brought down the president.

Lee had paid bribes in anticipation of favours from then president Park Geun-hye, according to a landmark ruling by a Seoul court, which also found him guilty of hiding assets abroad, embezzlement and perjury.

Lee, the 49-year-old heir to one of the world's biggest corporate empires, has been held since February on charges that he bribed Park to help secure control of a conglomerate that owns Samsung Electronics, the world's leading smartphone and chip maker, and has interests ranging from drugs and home appliances to insurance and hotels.

Lee denied wrongdoing.

One of his lawyers, Song Wu-cheol, said Lee would appeal the lower court ruling.

"The entire verdict is unacceptable," Song said, adding that he was confident his client's innocence would be affirmed by a higher court.

The five-year sentence is one of the longest prison terms given to a South Korean business leader.

Park, who was forced from office in disgrace, is facing her own corruption trial, with a ruling expected later this year.

Hundreds of rowdy, diehard Park supporters rallied outside the court earlier in the day to demand Lee's acquittal.

Samsung, founded in 1938 by Lee's grandfather, is a household name in South Korea and a symbol of the country's dramatic rise from poverty following the 1950-53 Korean War.

But over the years, it has also come to epitomise the cosy ties between politicians and powerful family-controlled business groups - or chaebols - which have been implicated in a series of corruption scandals.