On Friday, August 25, the Seoul District Court sentenced the vice president and actual head of the Samsung Group, Li Jen Yen (Jay Y. Lee), who was accused of corruption. He was sentenced to five years in prison, but the top manager intends to appeal the verdict.

Li Jae-Yen is accused of giving bribes totaling 43.3 billion won (about $ 38 million) to Choi Soon-sil, the girlfriend of former South Korean president Park Geun-hye,. It is assumed that instead of the former head of state had to support a number of projects Samsung.

In particular, Samsung was supported in the merger of several of its divisions, the main holder of shares was the state pension fund.

The purpose of these operations was to strengthen Li Zheng's control over the Samsung Group holding.

Prosecutors asked for 12 years in prison. Li Jae-Yong himself did not admit his guilt in the illegal lobbying of the interests of the concern and is going to file an appeal.

As noted by the agency Bloomberg, the court decision can be a significant blow for Samsung Electronics - the world's largest manufacturer of memory chips and smartphones. Samsung shares accelerated from 0.2% to 1.5% after promulgation of the court decision.