Trial of former Samsung chief Lee Kun-hee begins
12 Jun 2008
A Seoul court today initiated trial proceedings against Lee Kun-hee, former chief of Samsung, South Korea's biggest industrial conglomerate, for alleged tax evasion and other charges.
Lee resigned as Samsung boss in April, following a high-profile probe by special prosecutors into the family-controlled conglomerate and his subsequent indictment.
Lee was indicted on charges of evading 112.8 billion won ($110 million) in taxes by the Samsung group, of which Samsung Electronics Co. is the mainstay.
He was also indicted on charges of breach of trust. Other Samsung executives were also indicted on various charges.
Prosecutors, however, dismissed allegations that Samsung used affiliates to raise a slush fund to bribe influential South Koreans.
The tax evasion charge carries a possible sentence of between five years to life in prison, though judges have their discretion.
Samsung, Korea's largest ''chaebol', founded by Lee's father, has interests in businesses including electronics, shipbuilding, construction and life insurance.
Lee, however, was an exception in that he opted to step down before standing trial, unlike the of Hyundai Motor Co chairman Chung Mong-koo, who continued to head the company when, earlier this month, a South Korean appeals court for a second time handed a suspended prison sentence to him, leaving him free to continue running the expanding automaker.
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