A person surnamed Lee, indicted as an accomplice in the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case, also received a suspended prison sentence on appeal. The court found that Lee directly took part in the second round of stock manipulation and upheld the first-instance ruling.
The Criminal Division 5 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Kim Yong-seok) on the 21st sentenced Lee, who was put on trial for violating the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act, to the same sentence as in the first instance: 10 months in prison, suspended for two years, and a fine of 40 million won. It dismissed the appeals of Special Prosecutor Min Joong-ki for Kim Keon-hee and of Lee.
The court recognized as guilty the fact that Lee participated in the second Deutsch Motors stock manipulation. The court said, "Using accounts under other people's names to place orders intended to manipulate prices, Lee actively took part in the second round of stock manipulation," adding, "There were as many as 68 orders intended to manipulate prices, meaning Lee played a not-insignificant role."
The appellate court found that, given Lee's prior record for the same type of crime and participation for monetary gain, the first-instance sentence did not fall outside a reasonable range.
From Oct. 2010 to Dec. 2012, Lee was indicted and detained last December on charges of conspiring with former Deutsch Motors Chairman Kwon Oh-soo and former Black Pearl Invest CEO Lee Jong-ho, among others, to manipulate Deutsch Motors' stock and obtaining 13 million won in unjust gains. The first-instance court also found Lee guilty, concluding that Lee conspired in the stock manipulation committed by former Chairman Kwon and others.
The special prosecutor believes first lady Kim Keon-hee also conspired with the stock manipulation group to gain approximately 810 million won in profit from Oct. 2010 to Dec. 2012, and that Lee was involved in the process.
In a separate indictment, Kim had some of the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation charges recognized as guilty on appeal on the 28th of last month. The first-instance court had found those charges not guilty, but the appellate court reversed part of that finding. In addition, with some of the charges of taking a bribe for influence peddling under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes also found guilty, Kim was sentenced to four years in prison, heavier than the first-instance sentence of one year and eight months.