Supreme Court Confirms 17-Year Prison Sentence for Former President Lee Myung-bak... Denies Appeal Against Bail Revocation Decision

Former President Lee Myung-bak. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] Former President Lee Myung-bak, who was prosecuted for embezzling funds from the auto parts company DAS and receiving bribes through paying litigation costs, has been sentenced to 17 years in prison.

On the 29th, the Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Park Sang-ok) upheld the lower court's ruling in the final appeal of former President Lee, who was charged with bribery, embezzlement, tax evasion, and abuse of authority under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, sentencing him to 17 years in prison, a fine of 13 billion KRW, and a confiscation of approximately 5.78 billion KRW.

The court stated, "There is no error in the lower court's findings regarding the facts of embezzlement and bribery," dismissing both the appeals from former President Lee and the prosecution.

The court also dismissed the former president's re-appeal against the court's decision to revoke his bail.

With the confirmation of the prison sentence on this day, former President Lee, who was released following the court's suspension of detention immediately after the appeal trial in February, will be re-incarcerated.

Former President Lee was charged with embezzling approximately 34.9 billion KRW of DAS company funds and receiving bribes totaling about 16.3 billion KRW, including approximately 11.9 billion KRW in litigation costs for DAS in the U.S. paid by Samsung Electronics on DAS's behalf.

In the first trial, the court found him guilty of bribery amounting to about 8.5 billion KRW and embezzlement of about 24.6 billion KRW, sentencing him to 15 years in prison, a fine of 13 billion KRW, and confiscation of about 8.2 billion KRW.

In the second trial, the bribery amount increased to 9.4 billion KRW and the embezzlement amount to about 25.2 billion KRW, resulting in a sentence increased by 2 years.