Samsung heir found guilty of corruption, sentenced to five years in prison

A court has sentenced Lee Jae-yong, the acting chairman of the Samsung company, to five years in prison after finding him guilty of offering bribes and other crimes.

Jae-yong, who is considered to be one of the richest men in South Korea and heir to the Samsung empire, had been accused of making "large donations" to foundations run by a close friend and confidante, the South Korean president, Park Geun-hye, in return for political favours.

The court said Lee had provided bribes anticipating support from Park, who was still president at the time, The Guardian quoted South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

Lee, the successor of South Korea's richest family and its biggest company, had been accused of offering $38m (£30m) in bribes to four entities controlled by Choi, to whom Park often turned for advice and allegedly gave access to government documents even though she did not have security clearance.

Lee's lawyers are expected to appeal soon, where the decision is likely to be taken by the country's Supreme Court, possibly next year.

Lee Jae-yong was spared the 12-year term demanded by prosecutors, where his sentence is said to be the longest given to any South Korean chaebol leader.

The chaebol includes a shipbuilding division, construction company, pharmaceuticals and advertising arms. Other chaebols include LG, Lotte and Hyundai.

Jae-yong became the Samsung president in 2009, while in 2013 he was made the vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics, which makes smartphones, televisions, cameras and hard drives.

But since Lee's father Lee Kun-hee suffered a heart attack in 2014, he has been considered to run the Samsung empire.