The court has once again rejected the second bail request of Lee Joungho, former CEO of Black Pearl Invest, who is known as a close associate of First Lady Kim Keonhee.
On December 19, the 23rd Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Chief Judge Oh Seyong, dismissed the bail request of former CEO Lee, who has been detained and indicted on charges of violating the Attorney-at-Law Act. Previously, in October, Lee had also filed for bail, citing the need to guarantee his right to defense, but the court denied that request as well.
Lee was indicted and detained in August on charges of receiving approximately 80 million won in 25 separate transactions from Lee Jeongpil, the main orchestrator of the first round of stock price manipulation at Deutsche Motors between 2022 and 2023, in exchange for promising to help secure a suspended sentence for him in his criminal trial. Investigations revealed that Lee persuaded Jeongpil Lee by leveraging his acquaintance with the First Lady and claimed he could use his connections by showing photos taken with members of the National Assembly and others.
Lee is also known to have managed First Lady Kim Keonhee's account during the second round of Deutsche Motors stock price manipulation. He is a key figure in the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation allegations, which are a central focus of the special prosecutor’s investigation into Kim Keonhee. At the sentencing hearing held on December 16, the special prosecutor's team requested a four-year prison sentence, a fine of 10 million won, and the forfeiture of 83.9 million won for Lee. The first trial verdict for Lee is scheduled to be delivered on February 13 next year.
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