Samsung heir Lee Jae-Yong sentenced over bribery scandal

Billionaire Samsung heir Lee Jae-Yong was sent to prison on Monday after a South Korean court convicted him to two and a half years in his involvement in a 2016 corruption scandal that spurred massive street protests in South Korea's then-president.

In a much-anticipated trial, the Seoul High Court determined Lee guilty of bribing then-President Park Geun-Hye and her close candidate to win government support for a 2015 merger between two Samsung affiliates that helped increase his control of the country's largest business group.

Lee's lawyers tried to portray him as a victim of official abuse of power and called the 2015 agreement a member of "normal business enterprise".

Wearing a mask and black suit and also a tie, Lee was brought into custody following the ruling. He didn't answer any questions by reporters upon his arrival at the court.

Injae Lee, a lawyer who leads Lee Jae-Yong's defense team, expressed a lot of regret over the decision, saying that the "essence of the case is actually limited to the fact that a former president abused her power to infringe upon the freedom and property rights of a private company".

He didn't say whether they will consider an application. Samsung did not state the ruling.

Lee Jae-Yong helms the Samsung group in his position as vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics, one of the world's biggest makers of computer chips and smartphones.

In September last year, prosecutors separately indicated that Lee's charges of stock price manipulation, breach of trust, and also auditing violations related to the 2015 merger.