The Supreme Court upheld a lower court's sentence of 10 months in prison, suspended for two years, and a fine of 40 million won ($29,000) for a man surnamed Lee over his role in the Deutsch Motors stock manipulation case that also ensnared first lady Kim Keon-hee. Lee was convicted of violating the Capital Markets Act (law governing securities markets) after prosecutors said he conspired with former Deutsch Motors Chairman Kwon Oh-soo, former Black Pearl Invest head Lee Jong-ho and others to rig the automaker's share price from October 2010 to December 2012, making 13 million won in illicit gains. Appellate judges said Lee directly placed price-rigging orders through borrowed-name accounts and took part in 68 such orders, while the Supreme Court rejected his argument that the statute of limitations (deadline for filing charges) had already expired. The decision is drawing attention because Kim's separate case now hinges on similar questions over whether the alleged manipulation should be treated as separate offenses or a single comprehensive crime, after her Supreme Court ruling was postponed and then referred to the full bench.