South Korea′s ex-President Lee Myung-bak jailed for 15 years

Seoul, October 5: Former South Korean president Lee Myung-bak was jailed for 15 years for corruption. The 76-year-old CEO-turned-president, who served from 2008 to 2013, was found guilty on charges including bribery and embezzlement and ordered to pay a fine of 11.5 million dollar by the Seoul Central District Court.

 

The court found that Lee was the de-facto owner of DAS -- a controversial auto parts company which he claimed was his brother's -- which he used to create slush funds of. Lee was also found guilty of accepting nearly six billion won from Samsung Electronics in return for a presidential pardon for its chairman Lee Kun-hee, who was jailed for tax evasion.Both Samsung and Lee have denied any wrongdoing.

During the trial, Samsung was found to have paid Lee about 6bn won in exchange for a presidential pardon for its chair, Lee Kun-hee, who was jailed for tax evasion.

The court also said it was wrong for Lee to continue to deny the charges against him, and admonished him for attempting to shift the blame on to subordinates. The former South Korean leader was indicted in April on 16 charges that included bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power.

Lee previously described the case against him as “revenge” after the liberal president Moon Jae-in, currently in office, was elected. Moon was chief of staff under Roh Moo-hyun, who served as president from 2003 to 2008 and killed himself in 2009 after he was questioned by prosecutors about alleged corruption during Lee’s tenure. Moon has accused Lee of targeting Roh in an effort to discredit liberal politicians.