Kweon Seong-dong, a People Power Party lawmaker indicted on charges of receiving 100 million won in illegal political funds from the Unification Church, had a two-year prison term finalized.
The Supreme Court's Second Division (presiding Justice Eom Sang-pil) on the 16th finalized the lower court ruling that sentenced Kweon to two years in prison and a forfeiture of 100 million won on charges of violating the Political Funds Act. Under the National Assembly Act and the Public Official Election Act, Kweon lost his parliamentary seat.
Special counsel team of Min Joong-ki indicted Kweon on charges that on Jan. 5, 2022, ahead of the 20th presidential election, he received 100 million won from former Unification Church world headquarters chief Yoon Young-ho along with a request for the Yoon Suk-yeol administration to support the denomination.
During the trial, Kweon said he met the former chief Yoon for a meal but did not take money. He also argued that the case is not covered by the Kim Keon-hee special counsel act.
The first and second trials found the charges guilty and sentenced Kweon to two years in prison and a forfeiture of 100 million won. The grounds included an entry in former chief Yoon's diary reading "Kweon Seong-dong lunch - support with one big bill," and that after dining with Kweon, former chief Yoon sent a message saying, "What I gave you today is small, but I hope you will use it helpfully for the presidential candidate."
Earlier, former chief Yoon had his conviction finalized by the Supreme Court on the 9th for handing 100 million won to Kweon Seong-dong and, through Geonjin, providing goods worth about 80 million won to first lady Kim Keon-hee.
The Supreme Court's First Division (presiding Justice Shin Sook-hee) on the same day finalized the appellate ruling that sentenced former chief Lee to one year and two months in prison and a forfeiture of 71.1 million won on charges of violating the Attorney‑at‑Law Act.
Former chief Lee is known as a close aide to first lady Kim Keon-hee. The special counsel team of Min Joong-ki indicted Lee under detention on charges that he deceived Lee Jeong-pil—known as the "primary main player" in the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case—by saying he would help secure a suspended sentence instead of a prison term in his criminal trial, and received about 80 million won over 25 occasions from June 2022 to Feb. 2023.
The first trial found these charges guilty and sentenced him to one year and six months in prison and a forfeiture of 79.1 million won. The second trial sentenced him to one year and two months in prison and reduced the forfeiture to 71.1 million won. As for the charge of receiving money and valuables under the pretext of quashing a personal criminal case, the court dismissed the indictment, finding it difficult to recognize a direct connection to Kim Keon-hee or the Deutsch Motors case.
The Supreme Court's Second Division (presiding Justice Oh Kyung-mi) on the 16th finalized the lower court ruling that delivered a partial acquittal and partial dismissal of indictment for Kim Ye-seong, dubbed "Kim Keon-hee's steward," who was indicted on charges including embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.
The special counsel team of Min Joong-ki indicted Kim on charges that, using the borrowed-name corporation Innovest Korea, he sold IMS Mobility shares to IMS investors in 2023 for 4.6 billion won and embezzled 2.43 billion won by falsely lending it to Cho Young-tak, the IMS chief executive.
The first trial found Kim not guilty on the 2.43 billion won embezzlement charge. The court determined that CEO Cho covered personal debt with fund money and ultimately realized a property gain of 4.6 billion won for Innovest Korea. For the other embezzlement charges, the court dismissed the indictment, saying they were not covered by the Kim Keon-hee special counsel act. The second trial reached the same conclusion.
The Supreme Court found that the lower court did not misunderstand the legal principles.