ⓒYONHAP News

The Seoul Central District Court on Friday found ex-president Lee Myung-bak guilty on charges including bribery and embezzlement.

The court determined that Lee was the real owner of his brother's auto parts company DAS and that he embezzled 24-point-six billion won from the company to operate a slush fund.

It assessed that Lee received some six billion won in kickbacks from Samsung Electronics to cover legal fees for DAS in exchange for giving a special presidential pardon to the conglomerate's chief Lee Kun-hee.

The central question in the trial had been who the real owner of DAS was. While prosecutors had claimed that Lee was deeply involved in the company's operations, Lee had maintained that he had only provided management advice to the company at his brother's request.

The court said it decided upon the 15-year prison sentence because Lee had disappointed his supporters and society after his illicit activities came to light. The court said stern punishment is inevitable due to Lee's denial of the charges against him, his repeated blaming of former aides and his insistence he was being set up.

Lee did not attend Friday's sentencing, due to health problems and discontent over the court's decision to allow the hearing to be broadcast live, according to his legal team.

Prosecutors had demanded a 20-year prison term for Lee, with a 15 billion won fine and forfeiture of eleven-point-one billion won.