Samsung chief Lee pleads responsible to illegal use of sedative By Reuters

By Joyce Lee

SEOUL (Reuters) -Samsung conglomerate chief Jay Y. Lee pleaded responsible in courtroom on Tuesday to a cost of illegal use of a managed substance, as authorized woes proceed to hang-out the chief even after his launch on parole in August following a bribery conviction.

Lee’s launch had raised market watchers’ expectations of a flurry of main selections at crown jewel Samsung Electronics (OTC:) Co Ltd and its associates, together with the situation of a $17 billion chip manufacturing unit being deliberate in the US.

However Lee’s authorized troubles continued on Tuesday on the Seoul Central District Courtroom the place, in a brief first listening to on the matter, Lee stated he acquired propofol – a sedative utilized in anaesthesia – 41 instances from 2015 by means of 2020.

Prosecutors stated that the use was underneath the guise of pores and skin therapy or unrelated to a reliable therapy.

“This matter originated as for therapy, however I’m deeply regretful,” Lee stated. “I’ll … guarantee that this doesn’t occur once more,” Lee instructed the small courtroom of about 15 folks.

He stated he had not used the drug since his August launch.

Lee initially sought therapy on account of psychological stress since his father’s 2014 hospitalisation, which intensified with the following graft scandal and trial that led to his January conviction, his lawyer stated.

Prosecutors are looking for a high-quality of 70 million gained ($58,327) and a further price of 17 million gained. The ruling can be on Oct 26.

Below South Korean regulation, the recipient of a managed substance deemed to have been administered illegally is responsible for prosecution, in addition to those that administered the drug.

Employees at a clinic the place Lee acquired the sedative, who’re being tried individually, have denied wrongdoing.

Prosecutors have been first made conscious of the matter in 2020 however have been suggested to drop their investigation in March 2021 by an impartial panel reviewing prosecution probes. They continued to hunt a high-quality as not too long ago as June earlier than one other police report of sedative use led the courtroom to order a listening to.

As propofol is much less prone to be misused than many different managed substances, many comparable instances of illegal use have resulted in fines somewhat than jail phrases.

Lee was convicted in January of bribery and embezzlement and sentenced to 30 months in jail – together with a 12 months served earlier than his sentencing. He was paroled in August, with the presidential workplace calling for public understanding, citing hope that he’ll assist the nation produce “semiconductors and vaccines”.

After his launch, Samsung (KS:) stated it will make investments 240 trillion gained within the subsequent three years in fields equivalent to chips and biopharmaceuticals. Lee himself has stored a low profile.

Lee is concurrently on trial accused of stock-price manipulation and accounting fraud associated to the $8 billion merger of two Samsung corporations in 2015, with hearings held weekly.

($1 = 1,200.1400 gained)