South Korean Business Man Extradited from U.S. Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison

A former business partner of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak was sentenced by a South Korean court to 10 years in prison for stock manipulation, embezzlement and forgery, according to court officials.^[1]

In addition, the Seoul Central District Court fined Korean-American fund manager Kim Kyung-jun $15 million in a case that faced Lee over the course of a campaign which led to his election victory in December.^[2]

Court spokesman Ma Yong-joo stated that Kim had counterfeited seven U.S. passports and over a dozen other U.S. public documents.^[3]

State prosecutors, as well as independent counsel have cleared Lee of financial fraud allegations which accused him of participating with Kim in a stock price manipulation case.^[4]

Kim, who once partnered with Lee to set up an Internet financial firm, was extradited from the United States in November.^[5]

Kim was found guilt of making millions of dollars by fixing stock prices from a separate investment company and then fleeing to the United States.^[6]

Rivals of President Lee have alleged that the money used for the stock manipulation came from BBK, a third investment firm and that Lee was the owner of BBK. Were this to be true it would implicate Lee in the stock manipulation case.^[7]

Lee has strongly countered these allegations, maintaining that they are part of a plot by political rivals to discredit him.^[8]

Under the terms of the United States-South Korean extradition treaty, the type of investment fraud that Kim was charged for is extraditable because it is a crime in both the United States and in South Korea; the treaty states that “[a]n offense shall be an extraditable offense if, at the time of the request, it is punishable under the laws in both Contracting States by deprivation of liberty for a period of more than one year, or by a more severe penalty.”^[9] This is commonly referred to in extradition law as the rule of dual criminality.

Federal criminal defense attorney, Douglas McNabb has written extensively on the laws governing international extradition. Some of his work on the subject can be found here.

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[1] The Associated Press, Korean-American Gets 10 Years in Jail, The Associated Press, April 17, 2008 (available at www.ap.org).
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Extradition Treaty, Jun. 9, 1998, U.S.-S. Korea, art. 2, para. 1, S. Treaty Doc. No. 106-2 (1999).