It is known that Lee, the "main player" in the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case, gave conflicting statements to prosecutors and the special counsel about whether first lady Kim Keon-hee recognized the crime. In an earlier prosecution interview, Lee said, "Kim probably didn't know," but to the special counsel said, "She probably knew," changing the account.
According to legal sources on the 7th, Lee recently told special counsel Min Joong-ki's special counsel team, which is investigating allegations related to Kim Keon-hee, that regarding the matched orders on Oct. 28 and Nov. 1, 2010, in which Kim's Daishin Securities Co. account was used, "Kim is likely to have been involved."
These are the transactions at the center of the "seven-second trade" controversy, in which 80,000 shares were sold from Kim's account seven seconds after the stock manipulation ring exchanged messages.
Lee is also said to have answered in the same vein about the sell records in Kim's Mirae Asset Securities account from November 2010 to December 2012, known as the so-called "second operation."
Whether Kim recognized the stock manipulation is considered a key issue that will determine guilt or innocence. The special counsel questioned Lee up to just before the closing arguments and submitted a statement containing this content as evidence in court.
Lee's account differs from what was disclosed in a 2021 interview with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office. At the time, when prosecutors asked whether Kim recognized the price rigging planned by main player Lee Jeong-pil from December 2009 to September the following year, Lee reportedly said, "Kim was a victim." When clearing Kim of charges in October last year, prosecutors cited statements by Lee and others involved as a key basis.
The reason the special counsel and the prosecution reached different conclusions about the suspicion involving Kim appears to be that the statements of those involved changed. This time, the special counsel may have obtained different statements because evidence was secured during the investigation.
Kim's side, on the other hand, says the special counsel is trying to force proof of Kim's involvement in stock manipulation by eliciting speculative statements from Lee.
Lee was arrested and detained near a rest stop in Chungju on the 20th of last month, 34 days after fleeing during a search and seizure by the special counsel on Oct. 17, on suspicion of participating in the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation.