Former South Korean president Lee Myung-bak was sentenced Friday to 15 years in jail over a set of corruptions, including bribery and embezzlement.
Lee became yet another former South Korean president to be convicted of corruption.
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The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Lee, who served as the country's head of state for five years from early 2008 to 15 years in prison, fining him 13 billion won (11.5 million US dollars).
The sentencing session was broadcasted live, though the 76-year-old refused to appear in the courtroom.
Prosecutors had demanded a 20-year imprisonment, with the fine of 15 billion won (13.3 million US dollars).
The ruling said Lee concealed his ownership of DAS, a lucrative auto parts maker, under the borrowed names of relatives and embezzled about 24.6 billion (21.8 million US dollars) from the South Korean company.
Former S. Korean President Lee Myung-bak attends a court hearing in Seoul, Sept. 6, 2018. /VCG Photo
Lee was convicted of collecting 5.9 billion won (5.2 million US dollars) in bribes from Samsung Group, the country's biggest family-controlled conglomerate.
The bribe offered to pay lawyer fees for the auto parts company, which faced a legal case in the United States, in return for Lee's presidential pardon to Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee.
The former president was found guilty of receiving millions of US dollars from former intelligence agency chief, a former lawmaker and a businessman.
Lee was taken to a prison in March as he has long been dogged by allegations of corruption.
File photo of Lee Myung-bak, taken on March 14, 2018. /VCGÂ Photo
The court said Lee had long embezzled tens of millions of US dollars from DAS, which he owns under the borrowed names, noting that the wrongdoings, disclosed in the course of finding the company's effective owner, has contributed to the public's mistrust of politicians.
It noted that he denied all of his wrongdoings despite objective evidence and credible witnesses while shifting the blame on others.
Meanwhile, Shin Dong-bin, chairman of Lotte Group, the country's fifth-biggest conglomerate, was released Friday as an appeals court suspended his sentence.
The Seoul High Court sentenced Shin to two and a half years in jail with the suspension of execution for four years over his offer of kickbacks to the impeached former President Park Geun-hye.
(Top image: Former S. Korean President Lee Myung-bak attends a court hearing in Seoul, Sept. 6, 2018. /VCG Photo)