Heir to Samsung released on probation

After 353 days of imprisonment, Vice President and Actual Head of Samsung Electronics Li Zhe Yong was released after a decision by the Seoul Court of Appeals. He was reduced by half the time - from 5 to 2.5 years, but given the appointed conditional sentence in four years, the return of the heir "empire" to prison is unlikely.

What happened?

Samsung's leadership turned out to be at the center of the corruption scandal associated with former South Korean President Pak Kun Hye. In August, the court found Li Zhe Yong guilty of providing about $ 6.4 million dollars spent on cars and training the president's daughter's daughter in equestrian sport. According to the prosecution, in this way the vice president tried to obtain privileges for Samsung from the authorities.

After the verdict, lawyers appealed against this decision. When considering the appeal, the court found no evidence of bribery of the head of state. They say that the government put pressure on the company's management, and they had no choice but to accept these conditions (presumably without receiving anything in return). The amount of bribes was also reduced to $ 3.31 million.

What's next?

In October 2017, the general director of the corporation Kwon O Hune resigned in connection with the "unprecedented crisis". Samsung needs to look for new promising directions that will help maintain high growth rates . Now such issues are to be solved by Li Zhe Yen, who will also be reported to the newly appointed heads of the three main divisions.

Vice President of Samsung took over the leadership of the group in 2014, when his father and company director Li Kun-he suffered a heart attack.

Source: Reuters