Lime Trial Accelerates After Holiday... 20 Witnesses, Weekly Hearings Expected

Next Month on the 5th, Former Vice President Lee Jong-pil to Appear Followed by Others

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] As the trial related to the Lime Asset Management (Lime) case is underway at the Seoul Southern District Court, the trial is expected to gain momentum after the Chuseok holiday.

As of the 29th, the Seoul Southern District Court is conducting trials related to the Lime case in Criminal Divisions 11, 12, and 13. Previously, the court sentenced a former Blue House administrator who leaked Financial Supervisory Service documents to Lime to four years in prison, and a former Shinhan Financial Investment executive who continued selling funds without disclosing their insolvency to eight years in prison, among other sentences.

The Lime case, involving numerous financial sector figures, includes dozens of individuals who have been indicted. Even though the court has consolidated multiple cases, there are still more than a dozen ongoing trials. In this situation, the court appears to be accelerating the trial schedule by tightly arranging hearings after the holiday.

On the 5th of next month, immediately after the holiday, a trial concerning former Lime Vice President Lee Jong-pil’s charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (bribery) and the Capital Markets Act will be held under the supervision of Criminal Division 12 (Presiding Judge Oh Sang-yong). Throughout the trial, Lee has been firmly denying the charges, and witness examinations related to the case are scheduled. Since 20 witnesses have been requested to appear for Lee’s trial, the court has decided to hold hearings once a week.

On the 6th, a trial will be held for a group indicted for artificially inflating the stock price of a listed company that received investments from Lime through false information. On the 8th, the second trial of Star Mobility CEO Lee Kang-se, who was indicted on charges of receiving money from Kim Bong-hyun, chairman of Star Mobility, in exchange for lobbying a Blue House senior official to halt the Financial Supervisory Service’s audit of Lime, will take place. Lee, a former president of Gwangju MBC and suspected of being a link between Lime and political circles, was arrested and indicted in July on charges including embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, evidence concealment, and violation of the Attorney-at-Law Act. Kim will appear as a witness at this trial.