The former Samsung Electronic vice chairman has received a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence for corruption.

A South Korean appeals court ruled that the 49-year-old Lee Jae-yong is guilty of bribery. The court also ruled that Samsung made no explicit or implicit request, to ex-president Park Geun-hye, and the company had no leadership succession as subject of illicit solicitation. Lee had been detained since last February. In December, prosecutors had called for a 12-year jail term. He was alleged to have bribed Park and her confidante Choi Soon-sil, to consolidate his control over the electronic conglomerate.