Former head of Korea Housing Technology Kim In-seop, who was identified as the "lobbyist" behind the Baekhyeon-dong development project corruption scandal, was given a prison sentence in the first trial.

The Seoul Central District Court on Tuesday handed down a five year sentence to Kim, convicting him of solicitation under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, while also giving an additional fine of six-point-35 billion won, or around four-point-78 million U.S. dollars.

The court immediately detained the 70-year-old, citing risk of flight.

Kim is suspected of working as the mediator when the Seongnam City government granted administrative favors to Asia Developer in 2015, for a development project in Baekhyeon-dong, while receiving seven-point-seven billion won, or nearly five-point-eight million U.S. dollars in bribe money.

This marks the first court ruling in a case related to the Baekhyeon-dong development project, in which Democratic Party(DP) leader Lee Jae-myung was also implicated.