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| A Bugatti Veyron, the model once owned by an imprisoned stock analyst whose parents were recently murdered. From Bugatti.com |
By Oh Young-jin
The 500 million won or $442,000 stolen during the murder of the parents of imprisoned infamous stock dealer Lee Hee-jin was part of 1.5 billion won that Lee's younger brother received for the sale of a Bugatti Veyron that belonged to Lee's fleet of supercars, reports said Tuesday.
The French luxury car comes in three models ranging in price from $1.7 million to $3 million.
Police also were looking for two more accomplices ― Koreans ― as well as three Chinese.
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| The primary suspect in the murders is taken in for questioning, Monday. Korea Times |
The younger brother Hee-mun handed over the sum in cash and checks to his parents, who were ambushed by the main suspect, identified as Kim, and the three accomplices.
The bag containing the money ― checks, each worth 1 million won, and bundles of banknotes of 50,000 won ― were taken before the parents were killed.
Kim was with three Chinese accomplices, recruited for security jobs via the internet. The Chinese all left immediately for Qiangdao, China. Police are working with Interpol and plan to ask China to have them extradited.
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| The apartment building where the murders took place. Korea Times |
Kim and the others are suspected of killing the parents late last month. Over the weekend, police found the mother's body at the couple's home in Anyang and the father's body at a warehouse in Pyeongtaek.
Kim has no prior convictions and studied undergraduate and graduate courses in the U.S. He initially told police that he stole the money from a vault inside the house.
Police confirmed the sale of the car with a dealer who arranged the transaction. The rest of the proceeds went into Hee-mun's bank account.
The younger brother also was sentenced to two years and six months behind bars and fined 10 billion won, according to the vernacular Chosun Ilbo.
He is being tried by an appeals court. The Lees' mother, who was killed, was involved in her sons' activities, but the indictment against her was suspended.
Meanwhile, the stock dealer has been allowed out until Thursday to attend his parents' funerals.
Lee worked as stock analyst in a cable channel in 2013 when he came to the attention of the media with SNS postings of him driving a variety of supercars including the world's most expensive cars, and posing with celebrities. Lee, a high school graduate, acted as if he was a top university graduate.
He lured investors by spreading rumors that the price of unlisted stocks he had bought en masse would jump. He was charged with unauthorized transactions of 170 billion in stocks and collecting 24 billion won by making false offers guaranteeing high returns.
