Samsung heir handed five-year prison sentence in corruption case

A South Korean court has handed down a five-year sentence to Samsung’s heir apparent Lee Jae-yong in an ongoing corruption scandal.

The Asian country has been engrossed in a series of scandals which have reached the highest echelons of society, including several business leaders and even led to the removal of former president Park Geun-hye.

Lee has been accused of bribery in the same scandal that led to the departure of Park, and had been arrested in February on corruption charges.

He is the de-facto head of Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker.

Much of the scandal centres around the actions of Choi Soon-sil, an associate of the former president who operated a variety of non-profit foundations which were said to have taken money from the Samsung heir.

Lee’s lawyers are expected to appeal the guilty verdict and his five-year sentence, which could take the case as far as the South Korea supreme court.

The executive has consistently said that payments were made by Samsung without his knowledge, despite the court concluding that he had orchestrated them in exchange for favourable decisions.