Ex-Samsung Chief Appeals Against Tax Evasion Sentence

by Mary Swire, for LawAndTax-News.com, Hong Kong

23 July 2008

The former Chairman of South Korean firm Samsung, Lee Kun-hee, has this week filed an appeal against his suspended prison sentence and multi million dollar fine for tax evasion.

Mr Lee was formally convicted earlier this month after a three month corruption investigation concluded that he had failed to pay around 47 billion won (USD46mn) in taxes.

Mr Lee subsequently resigned from his post as Chairman, and was then ordered to pay a fine of around 110 billion won (USD108mn), but, to the surprise of many prosecutors, was spared prison time despite the fact that tax evasion can be considered serious enough to earn a life sentence.

Prosecutors have objected to the ruling, appealing for a heavier sentence.

Mr Lee took over from his father - the founder of the company - in 1987, and the business became a highly successful producer of memory chips.

However, at the time of his arrest, according to a BBC report, prosecutors revealed that Samsung was suffering "structural problems".

Mr Lee's defence counsel, Lee Wan-Soo, spoke on Lee's behalf earlier this week, telling the Yonhap news agency that:

"We are planning to ask the appeals court to rule on our position that the taxes were not evaded in a fraudulent or dishonest manner, and also the amount of the fine."

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