Lee Jong-ho, the former head of Black Pearl Investment, has been acquitted of charges related to instructing an acquaintance to destroy his mobile phone while under investigation by the Special Investigation Team for the Fallen Marines.
On October 8, the Supreme Court's second division, led by Justice Kwon Young-jun, upheld the lower court's ruling of not guilty regarding Lee's charge of evidence destruction. A fine of 3 million won was confirmed for the acquaintance involved in the case.
Lee is accused of having instructed the acquaintance, identified as Cha, to destroy his mobile phone on July 15, 2025, at the Han River Park in Jamwon, Seocho District, Seoul. Investigations revealed that Lee directed Cha to throw the phone on the ground, after which Cha stomped on it and disposed of it in a trash bin at the park.
At the time, the Special Investigation Team was probing allegations of lobbying for the ex-commander of the Marine Corps, Lim Seong-geun, using Lee's connections with Kim Geon-hee.
The Special Investigation Team initially sought summary orders for fines of 5 million won for Lee and 3 million won for Cha, but the case was moved to formal court proceedings by the judge's decision.
Both the first and second trials found Lee not guilty, while Cha was fined 3 million won. The court determined that Lee should be viewed as a co-offender rather than an instigator, as both were involved in the destruction, and that he could not be punished for actions that benefited him.
Following the ruling, both the Special Investigation Team and Cha filed appeals, but the Supreme Court rejected them, maintaining the original verdict.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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