Billionaire Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong jailed for five years

-
The billionaire heir to the Samsung empire has been sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of offering bribes to South Korea's former president.
Lee Jae-yong was also found guilty by a panel of three judges of embezzlement, hiding assets overseas, concealing profits from criminal acts and perjury.
The court in Seoul found Lee hoped that bribes to then-president Park Geun-hye and a close friend would secure support for a merger that strengthened his control over the Samsung empire and its flagship Samsung Electronics business.
It marks the downfall for the scion of South Korea's richest family, which controls one of the world's largest consumer electronics companies.
Lee, 49, was accused of offering $38m in bribes to four entities controlled by Choi Soon-sil, a friend of Park.
Payments were said to include $6.4m in supporting the equestrian career of Choi's daughter.
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.
One of Lee's lawyers said he would appeal the ruling and that he was confident his client's innocence would be affirmed by a higher court.
The sentencing is the latest episode in a scandal that saw millions of South Koreans protest last autumn, leading Park to be ousted.
Park was removed from office in March. She and Choi are both currently on trial.
Supporters of the former president rallied outside court to demand Lee's acquittal.
Other executives charged alongside Lee have also been convicted - with two jailed for four years each and two others receiving suspended sentences.
Samsung, founded in 1938, epitomizes South Korea's economic resurgence after the Korean War in the 1950s.
Powerful family controlled business groups helped catapult the country from poverty to becoming a global economic power.
But there has been increasing concern over the cozy relationships between these groups and politicians - and over a series of corruption scandals.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Aquashield Oil and Marine Services protects Nigeria’s waters against criminal activity

-
Image
Offshore industries in Nigeria are afflicted by the ever-present risk of piracy, sea robbery, militancy and kidnapping. With the threat level showing little sign of abating, security companies are gearing up to provide crucial protection services. The ongoing crisis scenario that plagues Nigeria’s territorial waters has prompted a dramatic transformation of the offshore security industry in the region. The industry was previously focused on unregulated fishing and other low-level issues, but has now evolved to tackle combative security threats such as illegal bunkering, the vandalism of oil and gas installations, piracy, sea robbery, militancy and kidnapping. Behind this shift is a destructive bout of youth restlessness in the Niger Delta region. The predicament has dealt a serious blow to the oil and gas industry, leading to reduced revenues for international companies that operate in the region. Similarly, its effects have also been damaging to the insurance companies that cov...
Read more

Kenya Airways gets US Govt. nod for direct flights

-
United States President Donald Trump has approved Kenya Airways application for direct flights from Nairobi to the US. According to an order released yesterday by the US Department of Transportation, neither Trump, nor his representative, rejected the application by the national carrier for the direct flights. Interested parties had been given 21 days to file objections to the order. On the other hand, Trump had 60 days to disapprove the application but did not, hence the application became valid on September 5, 2017. Kenya Airways is now allowed to transport persons, property, and mail from any point or points behind Kenya, via any point or points in Kenya and any intermediate points, to any point or points in the United States and beyond, the order read in part. “We make final our findings and conclusions as stated in the order and award to Kenya Airways PLC the foreign air carrier permit with associated conditions attached to the order,” US director of international a...
Read more

Self-service car sharing comes to Morocco

-
Image
It’s the perfect match for modern day living: self-service cars, by the hour or day, accessible 24/7 and with parking, fuel and insurance costs included. This, a first for Morocco, is on offer in Casablanca from the startup Carmine. Now that self-service bikes have rolled into the country, cars are following suit and offer a much-wanted service in the economic capital, burdened with increasing, chaotic traffic. The firm was created in 2014, and tested the waters with a pilot project in July 2015. According to CEO and founder Mohamed Mrani Alaoui, this was, “A period during which we really reached maturity.” There was a lot to do: running trials on rates, defining parking spaces through a partnership with the city, personalising technology and getting to know client needs. “People thought the concept wouldn’t work in Morocco, to judge by the time it took us to go into commercial operation,” says Alaoui. “But that pilot period was about making the new service more...
Read more