Mr. Lee, who fled during a search and seizure over allegations of Deutsch Motors stock manipulation and was arrested a month later, was detained on the 22nd.
Presiding Judge So Byung-jin of the Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for Lee that day. Judge So said the decision was based on "concerns about destruction of evidence and flight."
Earlier that day, after Lee gave up appearing for a pretrial detention hearing (substantive warrant review) scheduled for 3 p.m., Judge So determined the need for detention based only on the investigation record and evidence, without hearing arguments from the special counsel team or Lee's side.
The special counsel team investigating allegations related to Kim Keon-hee sought an arrest warrant for Lee the previous day on charges of participating in Deutsch Motors stock manipulation (violations of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act).
Lee was identified as an accomplice of Kim, who has been indicted and is on trial on the same charge. Kim was brought to trial on charges of participating in Deutsch Motors stock manipulation from Oct. 2010 to Dec. 2012 and obtaining an illicit profit of 810 million won.
Lee was known as the main market player during the first phase of the stock manipulation operation (Dec. 23, 2009–Oct. 20, 2010) and as the manager of Kim's securities firm account. He was also identified as the person who introduced Kim to Geonjin, Jeon Seong-bae (who has been indicted and detained).
On the 7th, at Kim's trial, KakaoTalk messages that Kim and Lee exchanged around Oct. 2012 were also released. When Lee said, "I sincerely worry about you, so there are things I can and cannot say, but what happens if my name is fully exposed. Kim 00 knows my name. I decided to step away from Deutsch," Kim replied, "I'm the one who wants to keep secrets even more, actually."
Before the special counsel team, prosecutors who investigated the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case had decided not to indict Lee, but the special counsel team reopened the investigation, concluding that he took part in the stock manipulation using a borrowed-name account. On the 17th of last month, Lee fled the scene during a search and seizure and was arrested on the 20th, the 34th day, near a rest area along a national highway in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province.