Kim Ye-seong, whom the Kim Keon-hee special counsel team (special counsel Min Joong-ki) indicted on charges of embezzling company funds, was again acquitted and had part of the indictment dismissed on appeal.
The Criminal Division 8 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Kim Seong-su) on the 29th sentenced Kim, who was indicted on charges including embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, to partial acquittal and partial dismissal. It is the same judgment as in the first trial.
Kim was accused of selling shares of IMS Mobility (IMS, formerly Be My Car) held under the name InnoBest Korea for 4.6 billion won in 2023 and falsely lending 2.43 billion won of the proceeds to IMS CEO Cho Young-tak.
The court found Kim not guilty on the charge of embezzling 2.43 billion won from InnoBest Korea, a borrowed-name corporation, saying it could not recognize the intent of unlawful appropriation—an intent to use or dispose of another's property as one's own.
For the remaining charges—that Kim concocted sham service work between Cho and the corporation to embezzle 500 million won, and that Kim embezzled a little over 900 million won of InnoBest Korea funds for children's education expenses and other uses—the court found they are not included in the investigative scope under the Kim Keon-hee special counsel law.
The court said, "This part of the indictment is unrelated to the allegations subject to investigation under the special counsel law, and the timing of the offenses also differs, so relevance cannot be recognized."