Probe closes in on opposition candidate's wife over stock price rigging allegation
Deutsch Motors Chairman Kwon Oh-soo, center, enters the Seoul Central District Court, Tuesday, for the court to review whether to issue an arrest warrant for him over him having allegedly rigged his company's stock price. The court issued one later that day. Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
Kim Kun-hee, the wife of main opposition People Power Party presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl, is seen during the ceremony at which Yoon was appointed the prosecutor general at Cheong Wa Dae, July 25, 2019. Joint Press Corps
The prosecution is closing in on main opposition People Power Party (PPP) presidential candidate Yoon Seok-youl's wife, Kim Keon-hee, over the suspicion that she was involved in the alleged rigging of the stock price of an imported car dealer.
Though prosecutors are yet to decide whether to summon Kim for questioning, chances are growing that the investigation will pick up speed in looking into possible links between Kim and the price rigging allegation, as the head of the dealership has been arrested.
The Seoul Central District Court issued a warrant late Tuesday to arrest Kwon Oh-soo, the chairman and the largest shareholder of Deutsch Motors, citing the possibility that he might destroy evidence.
Prosecutors suspect that, from 2009 to 2012, Kwon leaked insider information, such as the plans to secure new investments from overseas private equity funds, in order to induce purchases of the BMW dealer's shares, and later put up false sales orders at high prices to confuse the market. Kim is mired in this scandal as a man who allegedly managed 1 billion won ($846,000) of Kim's money was also arrested for joining the alleged price rigging attempts.
The warrant issued Tuesday did not state Kim's potential involvement in the scandal, but prosecutors are expected to focus on securing key evidence linking Kim to the case while investigating Kwon, in order to find out whether Kim was aware that Kwon's side would use her money in the alleged price rigging scheme. The probe was launched after prosecutors received a complaint that Kim was involved in the case.
If prosecutors summon Kim for questioning, it is anticipated this will fuel the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) attacks on Yoon.
A day after the Deutsch Motors chairman was detained, the DPK called for a thorough investigation of Kim, in what some see to be a bid to use the allegation against her as leverage to raise DPK candidate Lee Jae-myung's support rate.
“The first lady is the only spouse of a public official who is given official status and a budget allocated to her,” DPK Chairman Song Young-gil said. “Given its importance, the candidate's wife is also subject to thorough verification. Kim should provide explanations for all of the allegations raised against her.”
DPK floor leader Rep. Yun Ho-jung also said, “If Kim is involved in the price rigging, this means that the wife of the PPP presidential candidate was a predator who preyed on individual investors.
“Also, if Yoon used his former status (as prosecutor general) to cover up this allegation, that is an abuse of his official authority, which could result in the unprecedented consequence of replacing the presidential candidate of the main opposition party,” Yun said. Yoon was prosecutor general until March of this year.