Hong Kong (CNN Business) South Korea's top court on Thursday ordered a retrial of Samsung's de facto leader Lee Jae-yong, reigniting a bribery case that could send the technology heir back to prison.

Lee, who is also known as Jay Y. Lee, was found guilty of bribery and other corruption charges in 2017. But he walked free the following February when an appeals court threw out some of the charges and suspended his sentence.

The Supreme Court's decision sends the case back to appellate court for retrial.

Lee is the vice chairman of Samsung and the son of ailing chairman Lee Kun-hee. The corruption scandal was dubbed the "trial of the century" and gripped South Korea for months. It was part of a huge influence-peddling scandal that has brought down the country's former president Park Geun-hye.

Park, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence, was granted a retrial on some charges. She'll remain in prison because not all of her convictions were overturned.

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