Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong has been sentenced to five years in prison for all five counts charged against him: bribery, embezzlement, illegal transfer of assets overseas, concealment of criminal proceeds and perjury.
 
However, the sentence for the de facto Samsung heir was lower than the 12 years sought by prosecutors as the court denied details of some allegations.
 
The Seoul Central District Court handed down its verdict on Lee on Friday about an hour after the hearing began at 2:30 p.m. in the so-called “trial of the century.”
 
Lee was arrested and indicted by special prosecutors on February 28th of charges related to the massive bribery scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye and her longtime confidante Choi Soon-sil.
 
The court said Lee provided seven-point-two billion won in bribes for the equestrian training of Choi’s daughter. It said the money was embezzled from company funds. The court also said one-point-six billion won was provided as bribes to the Winter Sports Elite Center controlled by Choi’s niece.
 
The court said Lee gave the bribes to receive the government's blessing for a merger between two Samsung subsidiaries designed to cement a power transfer from his ailing father Lee Kun-hee.
 
Nevertheless, the court said Samsung’s donation of 20-point-four billion won to the Mir and K-Sports foundations controlled by Choi were not bribes. It said Samsung only complied with a sum decided by the big business lobby group Federation of Korean Industries.
 
The court labeled the case a collusion between government and business, noting that it has led the public to feel a deep sense of loss. However, it said the defendant appears to have passively agreed to the president’s demands rather than actively solicit favors.
 
Lee's legal representatives said they will immediately appeal the case.