SEOUL, Oct. 17  -- South Korea's top court on Thursday upheld a lower court's ruling that gave a suspended jail sentence to Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin over bribery.

Shin was indicted for donating 7 billion won (6 million U.S. dollars) to a sports foundation, controlled by Choi Soon-sil, a longtime confidante of the impeached President Park Geun-hye, in return for business favors. The donation was seen as bribe.

The chairman of the country's fifth-largest conglomerate was put behind bars in February 2018 as a district court sentenced him to two and a half years in prison.

The appeals court suspended the jail sentence for four years in October last year, and the Supreme Court confirmed the appellate court's ruling.

The appellate court and the top court accepted the claim that Shin "passively" gave bribes out of fear that he may have suffered disadvantages if he refused to make the donation.

Park, the former South Korean president, was removed from office in March 2017 over a corruption scandal involving Choi.