Kim Keon Hee Sentenced to 4 Years in Second Trial... Accomplice in Stock Manipulation Overturned from First Trial Acquittal

Yonhap News Agency

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First Lady Kim Keon Hee, who was indicted on charges of receiving luxury bags and other valuables from the Unification Church and participating in the manipulation of Deutsche Motors stock prices, was sentenced to four years in prison on appeal. The court reversed the previous partial acquittal on the acceptance of valuables, finding her fully guilty, and also overturned the not-guilty verdict on the stock manipulation charge, recognizing her as an accomplice. As a result, her sentence increased significantly.

The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 15-2 (Presiding Judges Shin Jong-o, Sung Eon-ju, and Won Ik-seon) on April 28 sentenced Kim to four years in prison and a fine of 50 million won for violating the Capital Markets Act and receiving illicit solicitations as stipulated by the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. In addition, the court ordered the forfeiture of one Graff diamond necklace and imposed an additional collection of 20.94 million won.

Regarding the most contested issue in this appeal-her alleged involvement in the Deutsche Motors stock price manipulation from 2010 to 2012-the court found that Kim was deeply involved in the crimes. The court stated, "Entrusting a large sum of 2 billion won without any agreement to cover losses and agreeing to share 40% of the profits cannot rule out the possibility that this was compensation for artificially inflating stock prices," adding, "It is recognized that the defendant had the intent to jointly fabricate stock price manipulation and participated through functional control over the acts." The court also pointed to Kim's trading of 180,000 shares at prices designated by the stock manipulation group at the end of 2010, stating this "constitutes a classic case of collusive trading."

The statute of limitations, which had been the basis for a dismissal and not-guilty verdict on the stock manipulation charge at the first trial, was overturned at the second trial. The court applied the legal principle of "continued offense," treating the acts from 2010 to 2012 as a single ongoing crime. The court determined that even if Kim withdrew from the crime around 2011, since her accomplices continued their acts until the end of 2012, the statute of limitations should be calculated from the time the final act was completed, and "the prosecution in this case was lawfully initiated within the statutory period."

The court also found Kim fully guilty of receiving luxury bags and other valuables from the Unification Church before and after President Yoon Suk Yeol took office. Notably, the court found her guilty of accepting a bag in April 2022, which had been ruled not guilty in the first trial, and judged her guilty of receiving a total of 82 million won worth of valuables. The court stated, "As the spouse of the president, who is a symbolic representative of the state, a high standard of integrity and morality is required, but she betrayed the public’s trust by accepting valuables," adding, "The value of the received goods is considerable, and the nature of the crime is serious."

However, as in the first trial, the court maintained a not-guilty verdict on the violation of the Political Funds Act (accepting a free public opinion poll from Myung Tae-kyun). The court explained, "There is insufficient evidence that the opinion poll conducted by Myung Tae-kyun was commissioned or coordinated by Kim and her husband, and it is highly likely that Mr. Myung conducted it voluntarily to expand his own influence."

Previously, in the final hearing, the special prosecutor had requested a 15-year prison sentence for Kim. At the first trial in January, the court had only partially found her guilty on the 'Unification Church acceptance of valuables' charge and sentenced her to one year and eight months in prison.

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