Former Black Pearl Invest CEO Lee Jong-ho has been referred to prosecutors on charges including violations of the Attorney-at-Law Act.
The National Police Agency’s Special Investigation Headquarters, which is handling the three major cases handed over to the special prosecutor, said on the morning of the 10th that it transferred Lee to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office without detention on charges of violating the Attorney-at-Law Act and fraud.
Authorities allege that from April 2021 to January 2023, Lee received 278,600,000 won (about $186,662) from a man identified only by the surname Lee, whom he met through an associate, in connection with violations of the Attorney-at-Law Act and fraud.
Investigators also allege that in February 2024 Lee enlisted organized crime figures to extort 356,000,000 won (about $238,520) from a man identified as Kim to cover stock investment losses—an offense classified as special extortion under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc., of Violent Crimes. Reportedly, that particular special-extortion allegation is not part of the Special Investigation Headquarters’ current probe.
On the 13th of last month, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Lee to one year and six months in prison and ordered the seizure of 79,100,000 won (about $52,997) in the Attorney-at-Law Act violation case brought by the special prosecutor assigned to the Kim Keon-hee matter. Both Lee and the special prosecutor appealed the first-instance ruling; the first hearing in the appeals court is scheduled for the 24th.
The court also found Lee guilty of receiving roughly 80,000,000 won (about $53,600) in about 25 payments from alleged ringleader Lee Jeong-pil between June 2022 and February 2023, in exchange for promising to secure a suspended sentence in the Deutsche Motors stock-manipulation case.
