Samsung Group heir and Samsung Electronics Vice President Jay Y. Lee faces nine years in prison in the bribery case that contributed to the downfall of former President Park Guen-hye.
Prosecutors explained that the sentence was justified because of Samsung's strength as South Korea's largest family conglomerate, and the final verdict is scheduled for January 18th.
"The Samsung Group is so powerful that it is said that Korean companies are divided into Samsung and non-Samsung," they said during a final hearing on Wednesday, according to the Korea Herald.
Prosecutors are also demanding seven years in prison for two more former Samsung executives.
The bribery case is separate from the other trial involving Samsung group heir essayist and stock price manipulation, with hearings in October.
The bribery case dates back to 2017, when the Samsung group heir was convicted of bribing the South Korean president and her close partner Choi Soon-sil and sentenced to five years in prison.
Prosecutors allege that the bribes were intended to secure government support for Lee's attempt to inherit control of the Samsung Group from his father Lee Kun-hee, then chairman of its board of directors.
The illegal payments were a major part of the corruption scandal that led to Park's dismissal, arrest and 25-year prison sentence.
Lee was released in 2018 after the court of appeal commuted his sentence to two and a half years, and returned to work as the de facto president of Samsung Group, a position he held after his father suffered a heart attack in 2014.
In August 2019, the Supreme Court overturned the court of appeal's ruling, ruling that it was too lenient, and ordered a retrial in Seoul High Court.
Lee Kun-hee, who is said to have been south Korea's richest citizen, died in October.
His wealth was estimated at $20.7 billion, and his heirs may be responsible for property taxes of about $10 billion under the country's tax system, Fortune reported.
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