▲ Lee Jong-ho, a former head of investment firm Blackpearl Invest, arrives at a special counsel team's office in southern Seoul to undergo questioning in this file photo taken Oct. 12, 2025. (Yonhap)

court-ex-first lady associate

Close associate of ex-first lady sentenced to 1 1/2 years in lobbying case

SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul court on Friday sentenced a close associate of former first lady Kim Keon Hee to 1 1/2 years in prison for offering to help a suspect in a stock price manipulation scheme in exchange for money.

The Seoul Central District Court handed down the sentence for Lee Jong-ho, a former head of investment firm Blackpearl Invest, finding him guilty of violating the Attorney-at-Law Act.

Special counsel Min Joong-ki indicted Lee in August on charges of receiving over 80 million won (US$55,400) from June 2022 to February 2023 in return for his promise to help the suspect get a lighter court sentence over the scheme involving Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer in South Korea.

The court said some of the funds could not be clearly recognized as being intended for lobbying purposes, ordering Lee to forfeit 79.1 million won.

Lee is known for his close ties with the former first lady, once having managed her accounts.

The special counsel team had charged Kim over her alleged involvement in the scheme, but a Seoul court last month found her not guilty of partaking in it as an accomplice.

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