South Korea’s Supreme Court ruled that a bribery case against the heir of the Samsung Group should be reviewed by a lower court, which revealed apossibility of a tougher sentence and potential return to jail.
Jay Y. Lee, had previously been given a two-and-a-half-year suspended sentence for seeking favor from the country’s former president, Park Geun-Hye
The Supreme Court said a lower court failed to correctly evaluate what constitutes a bribe and that it should reconsider Lee's suspended sentence.
Chief Justice stated that three horses worth around $2.8 million that Samsung donated to the daughter of the former president’s confidante, Choi Soon-sil for equestrian training could be considered a bribe designed to influence the former president.
The court also sent the former President’s corruption case to a lower court for separate trials on the charges on which she was convicted, a ruling which could possible increase her 25 year prison sentence
Park, who has called herself a “victim of political revenge.” has refused to attend her trials since October 2017 and didn't attend Thursday's court session.
She will remain in jail as the court did not overturn all her convictions, and the Supreme Court wasn't sending the case back with instructions to consider that she might be innocent.
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