Samsung Group ex-chief faces Supreme Court verdict on wealth transfer

SEOUL, Oct. 16 (Yonhap) -- Former Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee is facing a final verdict from the Supreme Court, as a special prosecutor on Thursday appealed an earlier ruling that spared the corporate titan from jail on irregularity charges.

The final verdict is expected by December, according to a special law on the
Samsung probe.
In an expected move, special prosecutor Cho Joon-woong submitted the appeal
against a Seoul High Court verdict issued last week that largely affirmed a lower
court's decision that found Lee not guilty in his murky wealth transfer to his
son.
Lee was given a three-year prison term, suspended for five years, and a 110
billion won (US$82 million) fine for tax evasion.
The prosecutor had demanded a seven-year jail sentence and a 350 billion won
fine. He has said the verdict was "unacceptable."
Samsung has yet to decide whether to appeal, said its spokesman, Cho Shin-hyeong.
With a mandate sanctioned by the parliament, the prosecutor indicted Lee in April
on charges of evading 112.8 billion won in taxes by hiding assets under
borrowed-name stock accounts between 2000 and 2006 and orchestrating the wealth
transfer to his son, Jae-yong, in the mid-1990s.
Civic groups criticize the court decisions as essentially clearing the way for
the tycoon to transfer the group's control to Jae-yong.
The probe started in January after a former Samsung lawyer raised corruption
allegations against the country's largest conglomerate. Political parties passed
a special law giving the mandate to an independent prosecutor.