From luxury bags to stock manipulation: What led to former South Korean First Lady Kim Keon Hee's imprisonment
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "From luxury bags to stock manipulation: What led to former South Korean First Lady Kim Keon Hee's imprisonment")
Former South Korean First Lady Kim Keon Hee Photograph: (Credit: AFP)
Prosecutors further added that the 52-year-old made $552,570 between October 2010 and December 2012 with her participation in a price-rigging scheme involving the stocks of Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer in South Korea.
Two luxury handbags, a BMW dealership, and a controversial church became the centre of former South Korean First Lady Kim Keon Hee's trial. Following her August 2025 arrest by a special counsel, she was sentenced on Wednesday (Jan 28) to one year and eight months in prison. The court found her guilty of accepting bribes from a controversial religious sect, the Unification Church.
The bribe from the church included Chanel bags and a Graff diamond necklace. Kim was also found guilty of manipulating stock. An estimate by the prosecutors put the stocks, bribes, and illegal opinion polls at $813,000. Prosecutors further added that the 52-year-old made $552,570 between October 2010 and December 2012 with her participation in a price-rigging scheme involving the stocks of Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer in South Korea.
The South Korean court, in the ruling said, Kim “misused her status as a means of pursuing profit … The defendant was unable to refuse the expensive luxury items provided in connection with special favor, and was thirsty to receive and decorate herself with them."
| Item | Estimated cost | Verdict |
| Chanel bag | $2,800/4 million won | guilty |
| Graff necklace | $6,159/8.8 million won | guilty |
| Chanel bag | $5,599/8 million won | acquitted |
| Stock manipulation | Billions in won | acquitted |
Summary of the verdict
- Sentence: 1 year and 8 months of jail term
- Guilty of: Bribery which involves the Unification Church and luxury goods like a Chanel bag and a Graff necklace.
- Acquitted of: Deutsch Motors stock manipulation and illegal opinion polling, citing insufficient evidence of her being a "co-principal."
- Forfeiture: The former 1st lady has been ordered to pay about $8,977. The piece of jewellery received as a bribe, which is the Graff diamond necklace, will be confiscated.
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