Former Samsung chief pays off record fine

SEOUL, Sept. 21 (Yonhap) -- Former Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee, who was convicted and fined last month for illegal bond deals, has paid off his fine of 110 billion won (US$91.2 million), prosecution officials said Monday.

Lee paid the whole amount of the fine, the nation's largest-ever one-time fine,
to the Seobu branch of the Seoul District Prosecutors' Office last Friday, said
the officials.
In August, the 67-year-old Lee was given a three-year prison term, suspended for
five years, and ordered to pay a fine of 110 billion won for masterminding
illegal bond transactions between his children and a Samsung subsidiary. A Seoul
court ruled that Lee caused Samsung SDS huge financial losses by forcing the
Samsung company to issue its bonds with warrants to his children at sub-market
prices.
Soon after the Aug. 14 court verdict, Samsung Group said that it will not appeal
the ruling, virtually closing the high-profile case after a legal battle of 13
years.
In May, Lee was acquitted of other two charges of illegally transferring wealth
and managerial control to his only son, Jae-yong.
The elder Lee left his top management post after two decades in April last year,
at the peak of a controversy surrounding Samsung's father-to-son transfer of
management control.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
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