▲ Lee Jong-ho, former CEO of Black Pearl Invest
Lee Jong-ho, former CEO of Black Pearl Invest and an associate of First Lady Kim Keon-hee, has had his 14-month prison sentence confirmed by the Supreme Court for receiving money under the pretext of lobbying in a court case.
The Supreme Court's First Division (Justice Shin Sook-hee presiding) upheld the lower court's ruling on July 16, sentencing Lee, who was charged with violating the Attorney-at-Law Act, to one year and two months in prison and ordering the forfeiture of 71.1 million won.
Lee is known as a close associate of First Lady Kim and has been identified as a figure who played a control tower role in the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case and managed the First Lady's accounts.
Lee was arrested and indicted by a special prosecutor team in August of last year on charges of receiving approximately 80 million won from Lee Jeong-pil, known as the primary operator in the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case, on 25 occasions between June 2022 and February 2023. Lee had deceived the individual by claiming he could help secure a suspended sentence instead of prison time in his criminal trial.
The first trial found these charges guilty and sentenced him to one year and six months in prison with a forfeiture of 79.1 million won.
The second trial largely upheld the guilty verdict from the first trial but dismissed the charges regarding the receipt of money for the purpose of settling personal criminal cases, ruling that it was difficult to acknowledge a direct connection to Kim Keon-hee or the Deutsch Motors case.
Consequently, his sentence was reduced to one year and two months, and the forfeiture was lowered to 71.1 million won.
Although both the special prosecutor team led by Min Joong-ki and Lee appealed the decision, the Supreme Court dismissed both appeals on this day, finding no errors in the lower court's judgment.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.