On Trial for Bribery, Samsung Boss Lets Lawyers Do the Talking

Image by Samuel M. Livingston

The third-generation leader of South Korea’s top conglomerate was mostly silent at his first court appearance in what has been called the “trial of the century,” as his lawyers labored to portray him as an innocent bystander in a graft scandal, reports Reuters.

Jay Y. Lee, the 48-year-old de facto leader of Samsung Group, could face a prison sentence of up to 20 years on charges including bribery and embezzlement in a scandal that led to the ouster of President Park Geun-hye, writes Joyce Lee.

“The leader of the smartphones-to-biopharmaceuticals business empire is the only founding family member among the country’s most powerful conglomerates, called chaebol, to be indicted in a graft scandal that led to Park becoming South Korea’s first democratically elected leader to be removed from office,” according to the report.

Read the Reuters article.