Ex-Samsung chairman pays 91 million dollar fine

SEOUL: The former head of South Korea's largest business group Samsung has paid a fine of more than 90 million dollars in a single instalment, officials said Monday.

A court last month had sentenced Lee Kun-Hee to a suspended three-year prison term and a fine of 110 billion won (91.2 million dollars) for his role in a 1999 bond issue.

Lee decided not to appeal the ruling that he was guilty of breach of trust over the issuance of Samsung SDS bonds with warrants. The exercise was aimed at transferring management control over the group to his only son Lee Jae-Yong.

The court found that the bonds were issued at below market price and that the group subsidiary lost 22.7 billion won as a result. It suspended Lee's jail term for five years.

The Supreme Prosecutor's Office confirmed Lee paid the entire fine last Friday to one of its Seoul branch offices.

Forbes Asia in April listed Lee as Korea's richest man, with assets estimated at 3.9 billion dollars.

Lee, 67, led Samsung for almost 20 years and was widely credited with turning it into a global brand. He stepped down in April 2008 following an investigation by special prosecutors into claims by a former group lawyer of irregularities.

In a separate trial Lee was convicted of tax evasion, received a suspended prison sentence and was fined 182 billion won. That fine was paid in May last year.