Former South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak was sentenced to 15 years in prison for corruption.. He was also fined 13 billion won (11.5 million dollars).
Lee, 76, a conservative politician and former Executive Director of Hyundai, was President from 2008 to 2013 – it was during this period that the court admitted most of the crimes were committed. Lee Park Geun-Hye’s successor was previously sentenced to 25 years in prison after a high-profile corruption scandal, the Washington Post reports.
Lee was found guilty of receiving millions of dollars in bribes from businesses and other sources. As the court found, Lee took part in the theft of 24.6 billion won (21.7 million dollars) from the company DAS, engaged in the production of automotive parts. In addition, as follows from the text of the charges, he received about $ 10 million in bribes from Samsung, other companies and its own intelligence service.
Lee was not present at the verdict, with his lawyer citing ill health as well as the court’s decision to allow live coverage. He had previously denied the charges and claimed that they were politically motivated and involved by the current liberal government of President moon Jain.
Ironically, South Korea is very well ranked in the international rankings for bribery in the lower strata of society, as police and teachers do not take bribes at all, unlike some other Asian countries, said Kim Jo-sun, former head of the anti-corruption control group Transperency International. “There is little corruption at a lower level,” he said. – But at the highest levels of government it is completely different. Politicians make very bad decisions.”
