The heir to the Samsung empire has been sentenced to five years in jail after being convicted of offering bribes to South Korea's former president. Lee Jae-yong was convicted of bribery in a scandal that also saw the impeachment of South Korea's former president.
Lee Jae-yong was also found guilty of three cases of embezzlement,
hiding assets overseas, concealing profits from criminal acts and perjury.
The court in
Seoul found Lee gave donations worth $36m to non-profit foundations operated by
Choi Soon-sil, a friend of South Korea's former President Park Geun-hye, in
return for political favours.
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.
Samsung has not denied transferring
funds.
But Lee, vice-chairman at Samsung Electronics and the Samsung founder's grandson, had
said he was unaware of the donations, which were overseen by other executives.