When South Korea’s former first lady Kim Keon Hee was arrested on Tuesday in an alleged bribery case, the incident cast a harsh light on some of the most famous cases involving spouses of other global leaders who had grabbed the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Prosecutors accuse Kim of accepting a trove of luxury gifts, among them Chanel handbags, a diamond necklace, and a Van Cleef & Arpels pendant in exchange for political favours.
She also faces charges of stock manipulation and influence-peddling. The arrest marks a stunning chapter in South Korea’s history, where corruption scandals have toppled presidents before, but rarely ensnared their spouses so dramatically.
Former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol, removed from office after his failed attempt to impose martial law last December, is now in prison and standing trial on insurrection charges.
While four other former South Korean presidents have been jailed in the past, this marks the first time in the nation’s history that both a former president and his spouse have been imprisoned.
But Kim is far from being alone as a first lady who got involved in corruption.
Argentina: Fall from grace
In Latin America, the story has repeated itself with striking regularity. In Argentina, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was once celebrated as both the first lady and, later, as president. That political legacy now carries a criminal record.
In 2022, she was convicted of steering inflated public works contracts worth over $70 million to a close associate. In June 2025, the nation’s Supreme Court upheld her six-year prison sentence and permanent ban from public office.
Honduras: The ‘petty cash’ case
Honduras saw its own scandal unfold in 2018, when Rosa Elena Bonilla de Lobo, wife of former president Porfirio Lobo, was arrested in what prosecutors dubbed ‘The first lady’s petty cash’ case.
Investigators found she had diverted millions of lempiras from social programmes into personal accounts just days before her husband’s term ended.
Initially sentenced to 58 years in prison, her conviction was later revised; she is now serving 14 years for fraud and misappropriation of funds.
Taiwan: Husband steals, wife pays
In Taiwan, former first lady Wu Shu-chen was convicted of perjury in connection with a broader corruption case involving her husband, former president Chen Shui-bian.
Despite her health, she served part of her sentence before being released on medical parole.
Peru: How to construct a scandal
The pattern spans continents.
In Peru, Nadine Heredia, wife of former president Ollanta Humala, was sentenced in 2025 to 15 years in prison for laundering illicit campaign funds tied to the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht, a corruption scandal that has rippled across Latin America.
Instead of reporting to prison, she fled to Brazil, where she sought asylum to avoid extradition.
Philippines: The ‘shoegirl’ named Imelda
And perhaps the most infamous example of all time remains Imelda Marcos (in photo on top), the former first lady of the Philippines, famous for owning more than 1,000 pairs of shoes.
Synonymous with opulence during her husband Ferdinand Marcos’s two-decade rule, she was convicted in 2018 on seven counts of graft for funnelling public funds into Swiss foundations.
Her sentence, ranging from 42 to 77 years, has yet to be served due to ongoing appeals, but the conviction cemented her legacy as a global symbol of political excess.
These cases share a common thread: proximity to power without the same accountability mechanisms faced by elected leaders. Corruption often doesn’t stop with the person holding office.
