Special Prosecutor Finds Genuine Necklace... "Concern Over Evidence Destruction"

In the warrant review of Mrs. Kim Geon-hee, who is facing more than 16 allegations including the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case, the special prosecutor emphasized the need for detention by presenting the genuine 'Van Cleef & Arpels' necklace they had been pursuing. Mrs. Kim's side denied most of the charges pointed out by the special prosecutor and argued for non-detention.

Judge Jeong Jae-wook of the Seoul Central District Court, who is in charge of warrants, concluded the warrant review for Mrs. Kim at around 2:35 PM, which started at 10:10 AM on the 12th. The review lasted for over 4 hours and 20 minutes without a lunch break. The special prosecutor team submitted an 848-page opinion along with a large amount of PT (presentation) to emphasize the need for detention, while Mrs. Kim's side submitted an 80-page PT and a medical opinion on Mrs. Kim's health to argue for non-detention.

The charges specified in the arrest warrant include violations of the Capital Market Act (Deutsche Motors stock manipulation allegations) and the Political Funds Act (Myung Tae-kyun's nomination intervention allegations), and solicitation under the Special Act (Geonjin monk's solicitation allegations), totaling three charges. All three allegations were investigated during Mrs. Kim's summons on the 6th, but she denied most of the charges.

During the review, the special prosecutor emphasized the need for detention by pointing out Mrs. Kim's denial of the charges, but it was reported that there was no change in her stance.

The special prosecutor team presented the genuine 'Van Cleef & Arpels' necklace as key evidence to the court. They announced that they received the genuine necklace along with a confession from Seohee Construction, which was suspected of delivering the 60 million won Van Cleef genuine necklace to Mrs. Kim. Last month, on the 25th, the special prosecutor team found the necklace at the residence of Mrs. Kim's brother-in-law Kim Jin-woo's mother-in-law, but it turned out to be a fake. Subsequently, the special prosecutor team focused on tracing the path of the genuine necklace through a search and seizure of Seohee Construction the previous day.

Seohee Construction admitted through a confession that the necklace worn by Mrs. Kim during the NATO tour in 2022 was the one they provided.

The special prosecutor team reportedly emphasized the need for detention by presenting both the genuine and fake necklaces during the detention review. They argued that the concern over evidence destruction was significant, as the special prosecutor secured the whereabouts of the genuine necklace while Mrs. Kim denied most of the charges during the previous summons investigation.

Especially since Mrs. Kim testified during the previous summons that the necklace worn during the NATO tour was a fake purchased in Hong Kong 20 years ago, it seems that the special prosecutor's claim of concern over evidence destruction will gain strength.

The special prosecutor team plans to investigate the obstruction of investigation and evidence destruction charges related to this. They are also investigating the connection with a robot dog import company regarding the discovery of a Vacheron Constantin women's watch warranty at Mrs. Kim's mother-in-law's residence. The investigation will accelerate by applying the charge of solicitation under the Special Act. It is reported that Mr. Seo, the representative of the import company, testified to the special prosecutor that he delivered it directly at Mrs. Kim's request.


theknight@fnnews.com Jeong Kyung-soo Reporter