SAMSUNG HEIR GUILTY OF BRIBERY

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Conflicting appeals court rulings were the largest hurdle for the Supreme Court yesterday. The appellate court found Park guilty for receiving 8.6 billion won in bribes from Samsung Group. However, Lee was found to have provided bribes of 3.6 billion won in an appeals trial. Now the top court has decided that the conglomerate's donations amount to 8.6 billion won.

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Regarding the Supreme Court's verdict, significant attention was paid to how much bribes it would acknowledge Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong had provided. The appellate court calculated the amount at 3.6 billion won and sentenced him to two and a half years in prison with a four-year suspension. However, the top court delivered a different decision. It recognized the three horses Samsung had provided to Choi Soon-sil's equestrian daughter as bribes. This stands in stark contrast to an appeals court ruling that Samsung had given Choi the right to use the horses, not ownership, as such, the horses are not acknowledged as bribes.

[Soundbite] KIM MYEONG-SU(CHIEF JUSTICE) : "The horses Lee provided to Choi must be seen as bribes. The decision that Choi was given only the right to use the horses goes against common sense as well as the principles of logic and empiricism."

The Supreme Court also decided that Choi was given the right to use and dispose the horses, based on the fact that she got upset when Samsung held the ownership of the horses and then the conglomerate eventually accepted Choi's demand. The top court also decided that Samsung's donations of 1.6 billion won to Choi's winter sports center were bribes. The charge was not acknowledged in an appeals trial of the Samsung heir. The Supreme Court said that the tech giant had provided the funds in return for government support for Lee's succession of business leadership and control. Therefore, the top court has found that Lee's bribes total 8.6 billion won, up 5 billion won from the amount acknowledged in the second trial. Analysts predict the jail term for Samsung's de-factor chair could increase.