VOA标准英语2008年-Iconic Former Samsung Chief Spared Prison Time

（单词翻译）

One of South Korea's most powerful business leaders has avoided a prison sentence for alleged¹ corruption². A South Korean court agrees the former chairman of Samsung evaded³ taxes, but it threw out more serious charges. VOA's Kurt Achin reports from Seoul.
　
Former Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, center, leaves Seoul Court House after trial in Seoul, 16 Jul 2008

A South Korean judge handed former Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee a suspended jail sentence, Wednesday, for evading⁴ nearly $50 million in taxes by stashing⁵ money in subordinates' bank accounts.

However, the judge said the prosecution⁶ failed to prove Lee committed a breach⁷ of trust by improperly⁸ transferring control of the corporation to his son.

Prosecutors⁹ had hoped to send Lee to prison for up to seven years. They say his role in arranging the sale of Samsung assets to his son for bargain prices cost taxpayers¹⁰ and shareholders¹¹ massive amounts of money.

Samsung is the largest of South Korea's family owned conglomerates¹², a handful of which are the spine¹³ of the country's economy. Samsung, a world leader in electronics, accounts for about a fifth of all South Korean exports and employs a quarter of a million people.

Leaving the courtroom, former Chairman Lee made a public apology.

He says he is truly sorry to all citizens for the trouble he has caused.

The corruption case forced Lee's resignation, earlier this year, along with those of several other high-ranking executives. South Korean lawmakers ordered an independent investigation¹⁴ of the company, last year, after a former Samsung lawyer-turned-whistleblower accused the company of spending hundreds of millions of dollars on bribes¹⁵. Prosecutors have been unable to produce evidence supporting that allegation.