JAKARTA - The Seoul High Court has increased the sentence of the former First Lady of South Korea, Kim Keon Hee, from 20 months to 4 years in prison in a corruption case.
Reported by Yonhap, Tuesday, April 28, the verdict was read on Tuesday, April 28, in a trial broadcast live on television. Kim is the wife of former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
The panel of judges found Kim partially guilty in the case of manipulating the price of Deutsch Motors shares, a BMW dealer in South Korea. He was also found guilty of receiving luxury gifts from the Unification Church.
However, the court still acquitted Kim of the charge of receiving the results of opinion surveys for free from people claiming to be power brokers. For this charge, the appeals court upheld the first instance court's ruling.
Min Joong-ki's special counsel team previously demanded that Kim be sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was accused of violating the Capital Market Law, the Political Fund Law, as well as rules related to the acceptance of bribes for mediation.
Kim is accused of being involved in the manipulation of Deutsch Motors shares in 2010-2012. From the scheme, he is said to have made illegal profits of 810 million won or about US$549,000.
In another indictment, Kim is accused of receiving two Chanel bags and a Graff diamond necklace from a former official of the Unification Church who asked for help.
The appeals court judged Kim to be partly responsible for stock manipulation because he provided an account containing 2 billion won to an investment advisory company. Through the account, he sold 180,000 Deutsch Motors shares.
This ruling differs from the first instance court, which only stated Kim was guilty of receiving part of the luxury gift. The appeals court stated Kim was guilty of receiving the entire gift in return for his mediation.
Even so, the charge of the results of the opinion survey remains unproven. The judge said the broker also provided the survey results to other parties, not just to Yoon and Kim.
In addition to 4 years in prison, Kim was sentenced to a fine of 50 million won. The court also ordered the seizure of a diamond necklace and the payment of compensation of about 20 million won.
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