Former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has been jailed for 15 years for corruption.

Lee, 76, was sentenced in a court in Seoul on Friday for embezzlement, bribery and abuse of power, crimes committed before and during his presidency from 2008 to 2013. The court fined Lee 13 billion won ($11.5 million)

Lee, who denies most of the 16 charges against him, becomes the fourth, former South Korean leader to be jailed. Lee's conviction comes six months after his successor and fellow conservative Park Geun-hye was convicted in a separate corruption scandal that triggered the country's greatest political turmoil in decades. She is serving a 33-year prison term.

Chief judge Chung Kye-Sun said Lee: "has bitterly disappointed not only citizens who trusted and supported him but also our entire country."

The court found that Lee was the de-facto owner of DAS - a controversial auto parts company which he claimed was his brother's - from which he used to create slush funds of around 24 billion.