Court upholds tax evasion ruling on ex-Samsung head
SEOUL, Oct 10 (Reuters) - A South Korean appeals court upheld on Friday a suspended jail sentence against former Samsung Group [SAGR.UL] chief Lee Kun-hee, who was found guilty of tax evasion by the lower court in July.
The Seoul High Court upheld the lower court's sentence of a three-year jail term suspended for five years. Lee was also fined 110 billion won ($79 million), but cleared of charges of breach of trust and illegal issuance of bonds with the intent of transferring wealth to his children.
"The previous ruling is neither too heavy nor too light," said Judge Seo Ki-seok, adding the court considered the size of the fine, Lee's poor health and the fact that he built companies such as Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and contributed to the economy.
Seo, however, said Lee was the subject of public criticism and asked him to "make further efforts to help develop the country."
South Korean judges have been in many cases relucant to put corporate leaders behind bars on white collar crimes for fear of hurting their businesses.
Lee, who led the country's biggest conglomerate Samsung for nearly 20 years, stepped down from his top roles in the group and flagship Samsung Electroncis after being indicted in April.
A special prosecutor launched a probe in January into corruption allegations after a former legal executive at Samsung Group said some of its top management hid money and kept a slush fund to pribe politicians, prosecutors and officials.
When asked by reporters if he was satisfied with the ruling, Lee said: "I don't really know."
A lawyer for Lee said it has not been decided whether he would appeal.
"What do I know about the law?" Lee said, on his way out of the courthouse. ($1=1390.3 Won) (Reporting by Park Ju-min, writing by Rhee So-eui; Editing by Keiron Henderson)
