Lotte chief arrested, ex-president's friend jailed for 20 yrs in S. Korea scandal (updated)

Lotte

13/02/2018 07:58

* Court orders immediate arrest of Lotte boss Shin Dong-bin 
Corruption scandal rocked S.Korea's political, business elite 
    * Court rules 20-yrs jail term for ex-President Park's 
friend 
    * Ousted leader Park still faces trial 
 
 (Adds background) 
    By Joyce Lee 
    SEOUL, Feb 13 (Reuters) - The friend of former South Korean 
leader Park Geun-hye who was at the centre of an 
influence-peddling scandal that rocked the country's business 
and political elite has been sentenced to 20 years in jail, a 
Seoul court said on Tuesday.  
    Choi Soon-sil, a confidante of Park, was convicted of 
receiving bribes from South Korean conglomerates including 
Samsung, the world's biggest maker of smartphones and 
semiconductors, and the Lotte Group.  
    Park was dismissed from the presidency last March after 
being impeached and standing trial separately on charges of 
bribery, abuse of power and coercion. She denies any wrongdoing. 
    The court also sentenced the chairman of Lotte, the 
country's fifth-largest conglomerate, to two years and six 
months in prison on Tuesday and ordered his immediate arrest. 
    The chairman, Shin Dong-bin, was in court and taken into 
custody. 
    Prosecutors had sought a four-year jail term for Shin, 
accusing Lotte of giving a foundation backed by Park and Choi 7 
billion won ($6.46 million) for favours such as a duty free 
store license.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N1HP2RV 
    Shin and Lotte, which has interests ranging from retail to 
chemicals, had denied the charge.  
    The jail term for Shin follows a December ruling in which 
the court found him guilty of breach of trust and embezzlement 
in a different case but suspended sentencing, leaving him free 
to run the group.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1OM08F   
    Prosecutors had demanded a 25-year jail term for Choi on 
charges including coercion, bribery, influence-peddling and 
abuse of authority, saying she had used her links with Park for 
personal gain.  
    Tuesday's verdict follows an appeals court ruling last week 
that freed the scion of the family that controls Samsung, Jay Y. 
Lee, after a year in detention.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1PV2N2  
    Lee had been charged with giving some of the bribes that 
Choi was accused of receiving. However, last week's ruling said 
Lee's bribe-giving was a "passive compliance to political 
power," appearing to put the weight of the blame on Park and 
Choi.  
    Park, who is in jail, is currently being defended by state 
attorneys after her defence team resigned en masse last October 
in protest at the extension of her detention period until April 
this year.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1N01Y7 
    A verdict in her trial is expected before her detention 
period ends in April. 
    ($1 = 1,083.25 won) 
 
 (Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan) 
 ((jungyoon.lee@thomsonreuters.com; +82 2 3704 5609; Reuters 
Messaging: jungyoon.lee.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: SOUTHKOREA POLITICS/