Kim Geon-hee's Necklace Allegations, Employee Testimony Revealed
On the 11th, the special prosecutor team led by Min Joong-gi conducted a search and seizure at Seohee Construction to secure evidence regarding Kim Geon-hee's 'Van Cleef & Arpels' necklace.
In connection with this, the testimony of an employee who claimed to have sold the necklace has drawn significant attention.
Through an interview with a Van Cleef representative, JTBC's 'Newsroom' reported details about the necklace's sales process.
According to the representative, the necklace was sold at the Lotte Department Store in Jamsil shortly after the presidential election in March 2022.
The employee testified that the buyer was the mother of "Director Choi" from Seohee Construction, and when asked about the recipient, she replied, "I absolutely cannot say."
When further questioned, the representative only conveyed that the recipient "is in their 50s but looks like they are in their 30s. They are tall and incredibly stylish."
This 'Director Choi' serves as the chief secretary to Lee Bong-kwan, the chairman of Seohee Construction, and is responsible for overseeing the group's secretarial work. It was reported that Choi's mother, a VIP customer of the Van Cleef store, looked at the product first, and then a few days later, Director Choi visited in person to finalize the purchase and payment.
An unusual payment method and the prosecutor's investigative direction
An anomaly was discovered in the method of purchasing the necklace.
According to the representative, they purchased a 'Shinsegae gift certificate' worth several tens of millions of won in cash and then exchanged it for a 'Lotte gift certificate' for the payment, under the name of Director Choi's mother.
The special prosecutor has deemed this method to be an intentional act to evade tracing.
At the time of sale, the necklace was priced in the low 50 million won range, and a few months later, it increased to the 60 million won range, currently being sold for approximately 80 million won.
The representative mentioned, "Since they came to buy jewelry for such a person the day after the presidential election, we jokingly wondered if it was Kim Geon-hee…"
It was also noted that when Kim Geon-hee appeared publicly wearing the product, it caused considerable surprise.
Kim Geon-hee first publicly wore this Van Cleef necklace about three months after the purchase, during former President Yoon Suk-yeol's first overseas visit to NATO in June 2022.
The special prosecutor team is paying attention to the possibility that the necklace might be a bribe.
A key piece of evidence is that Park Seong-keun, the former prosecutor and director-in-law of Seohee Construction, was appointed as the chief secretary to the Prime Minister just after the presidential election and just before the NATO trip in June 2022.
At that time, former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo explicitly stated, "The President appointed Prosecutor Park Seong-keun."
On the 25th of last month, the special prosecutor secured several pieces of jewelry, including the necklace, during a search of Kim Geon-hee's brother's mother-in-law's residence in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province. However, the discovered necklace was confirmed to be a fake, and Kim Geon-hee stated during the special prosecutor's investigation that it was a copy purchased more than a decade ago in Hong Kong as a gift for her mother.
The special prosecutor team is still tracking the whereabouts of the necklace worn by Kim Geon-hee in 2022, without dismissing the possibility that it was genuine.
Image source: On the morning of the 11th, the aftermath of the special prosecutor's seizure at Seohee Construction concerning the allegations that Kim Geon-hee received gifts and money, Seoul Seocho-gu Seohee Construction headquarters. / News1, jtbc, Kim Geon-hee wearing the Van Cleef necklace / Photo provided = Office of the President, Kim Geon-hee, wife of former President Yoon Suk-yeol, exiting the Seoul Central District Court after a pre-arrest suspect examination on the afternoon of the 12th. / News1
