On the 29th, it was reported that Director General A, a member of the first investigative team that prosecuted the case, is participating in the re-investigation of the 'Deutsch Motors stock manipulation' case, which involves allegations related to Kim Keon-hee. The first investigative team for this case prosecuted former Deutsch Motors Chairman Kwon Oh-soo and maintained that they should continue their investigation regarding Kim Keon-hee. The legal community interprets this as "a sign that Director General A is predicting a rigorous investigation regarding Kim Keon-hee."
According to ChosunBiz, it has been reported that Director General A is participating in the re-investigation of the 'Deutsch Motors stock manipulation' case. Director General A was the deputy chief of the Anti-Corruption Division 2 at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in 2021, and the first investigative team he belonged to prosecuted former Chairman Kwon Oh-soo among others for violations of capital market laws. Recently, the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office summoned members of the first investigative team related to the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case to share details about the case.
The first investigative team did not finalize whether to prosecute Kim Keon-hee, the wife of then People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Suk-yeol, stating, "We are still conducting the investigation." However, it was reported that the investigative team held the position that they needed to determine whether to prosecute after questioning Kim Keon-hee. Yet, the investigation could not be concluded without her being questioned.
The second investigative team concluded not to indict Kim Keon-hee on Oct. 17 last year during the presidency of Yoon Suk-yeol. This conclusion was made five months after the replacement of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office chief with Lee Chang-soo, who is classified as a pro-Yoon prosecutor. At that time, the prosecution stated that it was difficult to acknowledge that Kim Keon-hee colluded with the main culprits or was aware of or anticipated their stock price manipulation while managing accounts or placing stock trading orders.
In this context, the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office began a re-investigation of Kim Keon-hee on the 25th. The criminal division of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office has activated a third investigative team to directly handle this case. It has been six months since the Central District Prosecutors' Office decided not to indict Kim Keon-hee.
The Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case involves Kwon Oh-soo, the largest shareholder and CEO of the publicly-listed Deutsch Motors, who engaged in illegal trading of 15.99 million shares (worth 63.6 billion won) in collusion with 13 others, including current and former employees of securities firms, using 157 accounts from 2009 to 2012. In this case, Kwon was sentenced to three years in prison with a four-year probation.
During the prosecution's investigation and the first and second trials, it was revealed that six securities accounts under Kim Keon-hee's name were mobilized for stock manipulation. This investigation began during Lee Seong-yoon's term as the chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, but no clear conclusion was reached until the terms of former prosecutors Lee Jeong-soo and Song Kyung-ho concluded.