A South Korean court sentenced the billionaire chief of Samsung to five years in prison for bribery and other crimes in a stunning downfall for the heir to South Korea's biggest family fortune and a global consumer electronics empire.

In a departure from the leniency typically given South Korean big businesses, prosecutors on Monday requested the arrest of the de facto head of Samsung Electronics, the country's most valuable company, in an influence-peddling scandal that has toppled the country's president.