A special counsel team has summoned one of former first lady Kim Keon-hee’s closest associates for questioning in the ongoing stock manipulation case.

The team, led by special counsel Min Joong-ki, summoned Lee Jong-ho, former head of the investment firm Blackpearl Invest, to its office in central Seoul on Monday morning.

Lee is suspected of receiving about 80 million won, or about 57-thousand-500 U.S. dollars, from a key figure in the stock manipulation case concerning Deutsch Motors, a BMW dealer in South Korea, from June 2022 to February 2023. 

In return, Lee allegedly used his connections to the former first lady and helped the person secure a suspended sentence in violation of the Attorney-at-Law Act. 

Lee is also a suspect in the stock manipulation case, as well as in other cases involving Kim.