In the appeal over the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case, the special counsel added an alternative charge of abetting against first lady Kim Keon-hee, on top of the existing claim that she was a joint principal offender. Kim was acquitted at the first trial on the charge of being an accomplice in stock manipulation.
According to legal sources on the 18th, the special counsel the previous day applied to the Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 15-2 (High Court Judges Shin Jong-o, Seong Eon-joo and Won Ik-seon) for permission to amend the indictment in the case charging Kim with violating the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act, among other offenses.
An official from the special counsel team said, "The basic position is that Kim is a joint principal in Deutsch Motors' stock manipulation," adding, "However, we added an abetting charge as an alternative count."
An alternative count is a charge the prosecutor presents supplementally in case the main count is not accepted. Abetting refers to helping facilitate the commission of the principal offense—such as by providing an account—while knowing about the crime.
Kim was brought to trial on charges including taking part in Deutsch Motors' stock manipulation from Oct. 2010 to Dec. 2012 and reaping an unlawful gain of about 810 million won.
In Jan., the first trial court found Kim not guilty on the charge of being an accomplice to stock manipulation. However, it found her guilty of receiving a Chanel bag and a Graff necklace from the Unification Church side in return for handling a pending matter.
At the time, the court saw room to believe Kim might have recognized or tolerated the possibility of price rigging when she entrusted her account to the stock-manipulation group. However, it found it difficult to conclude that she carried out the crime together with them as a joint principal.
The court did not make a separate determination on the abetting charge. That was because, at the first trial, the special counsel did not include abetting in either the primary or alternative counts.
It is reported that the special counsel applied to amend the indictment, judging that even at the appeals stage there is a need to additionally examine the abetting charge. Because the Supreme Court review is in principle a review of law that assesses the appropriateness of legal application based on the facts finalized at the appeals court, the appeals stage is effectively the last stage where a new charge can be substantively contested.
Earlier, a so-called front man, a person surnamed Son, whose account was similarly used for price rigging like Kim's, was acquitted at the first trial, but the conviction was reversed on appeal when the prosecution's additional abetting charge was accepted. Son received a suspended prison sentence, and the Supreme Court finalized the sentence in Apr. last year.