Former Samsung chairman Lee Kun-Hee has been found guilty of tax evasion and given a suspended three-year prison sentence and a whopping $109m fine.

Prosecutors had been asking for a seven-year prison sentence and $400m fine for tax evasion that they estimated ran into billions of dollars.

Lee was forced to step down from his position at Samsung after the charges were announced.

"I am sorry for causing trouble to the people," Lee said after the verdict.

Lee was found guilty of tax evasion after putting parts of his rumoured $4.5bn personal fortune in accounts under other names and passing some on to his children.

He was found not guilty of breach of trust and illegal issuance of bonds, and had his three-year prison term suspended for five years.

"We ruled against an actual jail sentence as the degree of illegality was not significant enough," said Judge Min Byong-hoon.

The case came to court after a former Samsung legal counsel alleged that the company was evading tax and running a huge slush fund to bribe politicians.

Prosecutors were unable to find enough evidence of bribery to launch a case.

The conviction is a sad end for Lee, who turned Samsung into one of the major technology manufacturers in the world. He is the son of the company's founder.