Former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak sentenced to 15 years in prison

In a televised trial in Seoul today, former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined 13 billion won ($11.5 million) on corruption charges,Yonhapreport

Mr. Lee is suspected of being the de facto owner of DAS, an auto parts manufacturing company registered under his brother’s name. The court said the 76-year-old former president ordered DAS executives to create slush funds and was responsible for a series of suspicious activities at the company.

The court also found that former President Lee Myung-bak illegally accepted $5.85 million from Samsung in 2009 when the group wanted him to issue a pardon for chairman Lee Kun-hee, who was convicted of tax evasion. Of the 35 billion won (about $31 million) that prosecutors accused Lee of embezzling, the court only admitted 24 billion won due to lack of evidence.

Lee Myung-bak, who served as president from 2008 to 2013, is the fourth former South Korean president to be indicted after Chun Doo-hwan, Roh Tae-woo and Park Geun-hye. Chun Doo-hwan, 87, and Roh Tae-woo, 85, were jailed after leaving office for corruption and treason. They were both pardoned by the president after serving about two years of their sentences. Park was sentenced to 25 years in prison for corruption in August.

Lee Myung-bak has always maintained his innocence and that the charges are "political revenge" by the Moon Jae-in administration for the death of Lee's predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun. Roh committed suicide in 2009 while under investigation for a series of corruption allegations. President Moon Jae-in was a senior aide to Roh.

Anh Ngoc