▲ Joint Response Team against stock manipulation holding a briefing
A group accused of manipulating stock prices using over 100 billion won in large-scale funding is facing a critical decision regarding their potential arrest.
According to the court today (June 29), Judge Hwang Joong-yeon of the Seoul Southern District Court, who is in charge of warrant reviews, will hold a pre-arrest interrogation (warrant validity hearing) for the four suspects on charges including violations of the Capital Markets Act at 2:00 PM on July 1.
This follows the request for arrest warrants filed by the Joint Investigation Team for Financial and Securities Crimes at the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office (led by Chief Prosecutor Shin Dong-hwan) on June 26.
The case came to light last March when the Securities and Futures Commission of the Financial Services Commission filed complaints against 11 individuals—including wealthy investors, operators of general hospitals and large private academies, executives of asset management firms, bank branch managers, financial experts, and minority shareholder activists—as well as four corporations.
The group is accused of targeting DI Dong-il, a stock with low daily trading volume, and manipulating its market price by mobilizing corporate funds they managed and loans from financial institutions.
Investigators found that the group used minority shareholder activism as a pretext to pressure DI Dong-il's management into signing trust agreements for treasury stock acquisition, subsequently managing the stock price to lure in other investors.
At the time, the buy orders placed by the suspects accounted for one-third of the total market volume for the stock.
This case has drawn attention as the first case of 'stock manipulation ruin' handled by the joint response team, which was launched after President Lee Jae-myung emphasized the eradication of unfair trading practices.
Following an initial search and seizure of NH Investment & Securities and DI Dong-il on May 28, the prosecution also conducted raids on KB Securities, NH Investment & Securities, and Kyobo Securities on June 19.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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