The special counsel appealed the appellate ruling in the case of Kim Keon-hee, who was indicted over allegations including Deutsch Motors stock manipulation and the Unification Church cash-and-gifts scandal.
On the 4th, the special counsel filed a petition for appeal with the Criminal Division 15-2 of the Seoul High Court (High Court Judges Shin Jong-o, Seong Eon-joo, and Won Ik-seon). Kim's side also appealed the appellate ruling on the 30th.
Earlier, on the 28th, the appellate court sentenced Kim to four years in prison and a 50 million won fine in the case involving violations of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act, violations of the Political Funds Act, and bribery mediation under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. The court also ordered the forfeiture of one seized Graff diamond necklace and the collection of 20.94 million won.
The appellate court reversed the lower court's acquittals and found Kim guilty on some Deutsch Motors stock manipulation charges and on the Unification Church Chanel bag receipt charge. However, as in the first trial, it found Kim not guilty of violating the Political Funds Act over the free provision of a presidential election poll valued at 270 million won from Myung Tae-gyun.
Kim's sentence more than doubled from the first trial. The first-instance court had recognized only part of the bribery mediation charge among the three charges and sentenced Kim to one year and eight months in prison.
After the appellate sentencing, Kim's defense team said, "There is no direct evidence that Kim recognized the stock manipulation, and even if there is some circumstantial evidence, much of it conflicts; it is problematic to recognize joint principal liability based only on some circumstances," adding, "We will closely analyze the written judgment and correct the improper parts in the final appeal."
The special counsel also appealed the case of former Unification Church World Headquarters head Yoon Young-ho, who was indicted on charges of delivering money and valuables to Kim and People Power Party lawmaker Kweon Seong-dong in the name of lobbying on Unification Church pending matters. In the appellate court, Yoon was sentenced to one year and six months in prison.
The special counsel on the same day filed an appeal in the case of Kim Ye-seong, identified as the key figure in the so-called "butler gate" allegations. Kim was indicted on charges of embezzling company funds but received acquittals and dismissals in the appellate court.