A special counsel team probing allegations surrounding former first lady Kim Keon-hee raided the home of a businessman linked to Kim's alleged stock manipulation.

According to the team, the investigators executed a warrant on Saturday morning to conduct a search and seizure at the Gyeonggi Seongnam home and vehicle of former Black Pearl Invest CEO Lee Jong-ho.

The investigators came to suspect that Lee violated the Attorney-at-Law Act while probing allegations of stock manipulation at Deutsche Motors.

Lee allegedly received 81 million won, or around 58-thousand U.S. dollars, from Lee Jeong-pil, who is believed to be the former first lady's bank account manager and one of key players in the alleged stock manipulation, in return for helping to reduce his criminal punishment.

The former head of the investment firm, whose mobile phone was seized by another special counsel team probing the alleged intervention in a military inquest into the 2023 death of a Marine corporal last week, had his new device seized on Saturday.

The team investigating the former first lady summoned Lee Jong-ho to appear for questioning as a suspect at 10 a.m. Monday.