Increased Bribery Amount for MB... Prosecutors' Sentencing Request Today

Former President Lee Myung-bak's DAS Embezzlement and Samsung Bribery Charges
Appeal Trial Concludes... 1 Year 2 Months After Case Filed
MB's Bribery Amount Increased by 5.1 Billion Won from Original Trial to 11.9 Billion Won
Prosecution's 20-Year Prison Sentence Request Expected to Increase from First Trial

Former President Lee Myung-bak, who is suspected of embezzling funds from DAS and accepting bribes, is moving to the courtroom to attend the appellate trial held at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 9th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The appellate trial of former President Lee Myung-bak, who was indicted on charges of embezzling funds from the auto parts company DAS and accepting bribes from Samsung, will conclude on the 8th. It has been 1 year and 2 months since the case was filed.

The Seoul High Court Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Jung Jun-young) will hold Lee's closing trial at 2:05 p.m. on the same day to hear the prosecution's sentencing recommendation and the defendant's final argument. Since the first trial began in January last year, the prosecution and Lee's side have engaged in intense legal battles in court for a year until this closing trial. During this process, the prosecution additionally discovered about 5.1 billion won in suspected bribes that Samsung allegedly gave under the name of DAS litigation costs and added it to the indictment. Accordingly, the total amount of bribes from Samsung to the former president increased from the previous 6.7 billion won to about 11.9 billion won.

With the increase in the bribe amount, the prosecution is expected to request a harsher sentence than in the first trial during this hearing. In the first trial, the prosecution sought 20 years imprisonment and a fine of 15 billion won for the former president. On the other hand, Lee's side is expected to plead not guilty in the final statement. In the first trial, Lee claimed his innocence for 16 minutes, saying, "To me, who hates and is wary of corruption and collusion between politics and business the most, this is very humiliating."

Lee was indicted on charges of effectively controlling DAS's management and embezzling about 34.9 billion won, as well as accepting a total of 11 billion won in bribes, including 6.8 billion won in DAS's U.S. litigation costs paid by Samsung Electronics. The first trial recognized bribery charges amounting to about 8.5 billion won, including about 6.1 billion won of the U.S. litigation costs paid by DAS, about 2.3 billion won received from former Woori Financial Group Chairman Lee Pal-seong and former lawmaker Kim So-nam, and 100,000 dollars received from former National Intelligence Service Director Won Sei-hoon. Additionally, among 16 charges including embezzlement of DAS funds amounting to about 24.6 billion won, the court found 7 charges guilty and sentenced Lee to 15 years imprisonment, a fine of 13 billion won, and a confiscation of about 8.2 billion won.

Lee was released on bail by the court's decision in March last year and has been undergoing trial without detention. After concluding the hearing on this day, the court plans to hold the sentencing trial next month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.