Kim Keon Hee Sentenced to Four Years in Prison in Stock Manipulation Case... Sentence Increased on Appeal

Kim Keon Hee, the wife of former President Yoon Suk Yeol, was sentenced to four years in prison on appeal for charges of stock manipulation involving Deutsche Motors and receiving money and valuables from the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification. The sentence was increased by two years and four months from the original term of one year and eight months. As the not-guilty ruling on some counts in the first trial was overturned, the decision is expected to affect other co-defendants' trials as well.
The Criminal Division 15-2 of the Seoul High Court, presided over by judges Shin Jong-o, Sung Eon-ju, and Won Ik-seon, overturned the lower court ruling in full on the 28th and sentenced Kim, who had been indicted on charges of receiving mediation money under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes, violating the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act, and violating the Political Funds Act, to four years in prison, a fine of 50 million won, a forfeiture of 20.94 million won, and confiscation of a Graff necklace. The Kim Keon Hee Special Prosecutor Team had previously asked the court to sentence her to 15 years in prison.
The court found the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation charge guilty. In the first trial, the court acknowledged that Kim was aware of the price manipulation, but ruled her not guilty, saying there was no evidence to regard her as a joint principal offender.
However, the appellate court explained that Kim should be seen as having "participated" in the price manipulation, citing the fact that she entered into discretionary trading with a 40 percent commission without signing any loss-compensation agreement and provided more than 180,000 shares of Deutsche Motors stock to Black Pearl Invest.
The court stressed, "Beyond merely tolerating that account funds and Deutsche Motors shares would be used for price manipulation, she participated through functional control of the act with a shared intent to carry out the manipulation," adding, "It is the court's judgment that she is recognized as a co-conspirator." It also said that additional stock purchases made after the settlement in the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case did not constitute price manipulation.
The court also found her guilty on the charge of receiving the first Chanel bag. Jeon Seong-bae, known as Geomjin Bopsa, delivered a Chanel bag worth 8 million won to Kim on April 7, 2022. The first trial concluded that it was unrelated to any request from the Unification Church because the call was made in the context of helping with the presidential election. However, the appellate court determined that Kim knew there was an implied request when she accepted the bag, on the premise that a specific request would be made soon. In other words, the court said that such an expensive bag, worth more than 8 million won, could not have been given and received merely out of vague personal ties.
The court cited several grounds, including that issues involving the Unification Church had already been relayed to Yoon Suk Yeol, that Kim gave Yoon Young-ho, then head of the Unification Church World Headquarters, her phone number with a request in mind, and that Yoon would not have given Jeon an expensive bag as a "congratulations on winning" gift.
The court upheld the lower court's not-guilty ruling on the allegation of receiving free public opinion polls. It said the polls that Myeong Tae-gyun delivered to the presidential couple were part of the Institute for Future Korea's "business activities" and were carried out as a means or purpose of expanding Myeong's own political influence.
It also added that, based on Yoon Sang-hyun's testimony and other evidence regarding the alleged request for a nomination for former lawmaker Kim Young-sun, the materials did not include anything that could link the cost of the opinion polls to Kim's nomination.