Deutsch Motors(067990) The Supreme Court will issue its ruling on the 16th in the final appeal of first lady Kim Keon-hee, who received a four-year prison sentence on appeal for alleged involvement in stock manipulation and accepting valuables from the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification (Unification Church). It will be the Supreme Court's first decision in Kim's case.
According to legal sources, the Supreme Court will hold the sentencing hearing on the 16th in Kim's case on charges including violations of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act, acceptance of brokerage bribes, and violations of the Political Funds Act. The date for Kim's ruling was set a day after the first Supreme Court decision came down in former President Yoon Suk-yeol's case.
The ruling will come faster than the special counsel's expedited processing rule. Under the special counsel law, cases indicted by the special counsel are to be handled within six months at first instance and within three months each at the second and third instances, the so-called "6-3-3" rule. The deadline for handling the final appeal under this rule is the 28th, but the Supreme Court decided to rule 12 days earlier.
Kim was brought to trial on three broad sets of charges. First, she is accused of participating in stock manipulation with former Deutsch Motors Chairman Kwon Oh-su and others from October 2010 to December 2012 to obtain an unlawful gain of about 811.44 million won. High-priced purchases, wash trades, and prearranged trades were included in the indictment. A prearranged trade is a method in which the buyer and seller coordinate in advance to buy and sell shares.
The alleged acceptance of valuables from the Unification Church is also at issue. Kim is accused of conspiring with "Geonjin," Jeon Seong-bae, from April to July 2022 to accept a request from the Unification Church side and receive valuables totaling about 80 million won, including a Graff diamond necklace from the United Kingdom and a Chanel bag. Acceptance of brokerage bribes is a crime in which one accepts valuables while offering to broker a matter related to a public official's duties.
She was also charged with receiving a presidential election poll free of charge from political broker Myeong Tae-gyun. The special counsel viewed that Kim was provided opinion polls worth a total of about 270 million won.
The first- and second-instance rulings diverged widely. In January, the first-instance court found Kim guilty only in part on the acceptance of brokerage bribes charge. The sentence was one year and eight months in prison. The court also ordered the forfeiture of the seized Graff diamond necklace from the United Kingdom and an additional collection of 12.81 million won.
The appeals court expanded the scope of guilt. On Apr. 28, the second-instance court sentenced Kim to four years in prison and a fine of 50 million won. It found some of the stock manipulation involvement charges, which the first-instance court had acquitted, to be guilty, and also found her guilty on the acceptance of brokerage bribes charge related to the Chanel bag received on Apr. 7, 2022.
However, the charge of violating the Political Funds Act related to Myeong Tae-gyun was found not guilty in both the first and second instances. The Supreme Court will make a final determination on whether there are legal issues with the appeals court's findings of guilt on Deutsch Motors stock manipulation involvement and acceptance of valuables from the Unification Church, and its not-guilty finding on the Political Funds Act violation.