Kim Geon-hee Special Prosecutor, Sambo Construction Stock Manipulation Profit 36.9 Billion Won... The Key is Whether Mrs. Kim Knew or Was Involved

[Financial News]  The special prosecutor team of Kim Geon-hee (Min Jung-gi special prosecutor) has assessed the illicit profits of the current and former executives of Sambo Construction, accused of stock manipulation, to be 36.9 billion won. The main issue for the special prosecutor team is whether Mrs. Kim was aware of or involved in the dissemination of false information.
According to the legal community on the 16th, the special prosecutor team stated in the arrest warrant application submitted to the court on the 14th for Sambo Construction Chairman Lee Il-jun, former Chairman Cho Seong-ok, former CEO Lee Eung-geun, and Vice Chairman Lee Ki-hoon, that they had gained illicit profits.
Chairman Lee and others are accused of misleading investors into believing that Sambo Construction would actively pursue reconstruction projects in Ukraine in May-June 2023, thereby inflating the stock price and selling their shares for illicit profits. The special prosecutor team believes that former Chairman Cho's side gained approximately 20 billion won, while Chairman Lee's side gained about 17 billion won in illicit profits.
The special prosecutor team believes that these individuals deceived investors by pretending to pursue reconstruction projects, such as signing various agreements with local governments during the Ukraine Reconstruction Forum held in Poland in May 2023.
Sambo Construction, classified as a Ukraine reconstruction stock, saw its stock price, which was in the 1,000 won range that year, soar to 5,500 won during the day two months later.
The pre-arrest interrogation (substantive examination of the warrant) for these four individuals will be held on the 17th under the jurisdiction of Judge Lee Jeong-jae of the Seoul Central District Court. This is the first case of an arrest warrant request by the special prosecutor team since the investigation began on the 3rd.
If their custody is secured, the investigation into Mrs. Kim's allegations is expected to accelerate. Lee Jong-ho, former CEO of Black Pearl Investment, who is known to have managed Mrs. Kim's account in the Deutsche Motors stock manipulation case, is identified as the person who connected former Chairman Cho and Mrs. Kim.
After he posted 'Check Sambo tomorrow' in a KakaoTalk chat room, former President Yoon and his wife met with the Ukrainian President and his wife. Subsequently, Sambo Construction's trading volume increased 40 times, and on May 22, 2023, when former Minister Won Hee-ryong and Sambo Construction attended the 'Ukraine Reconstruction Forum,' the stock hit the upper limit. Former Minister Won is also under investigation by the Kim Geon-hee special prosecutor team.
Therefore, the special prosecutor team believes there is a high possibility that Mrs. Kim was involved in the process of inflating Sambo Construction's stock price. Some media reported that former President Yoon received holiday gifts from former Chairman Cho for over 10 years.
Separately, the special prosecutor team summoned Kang Hye-kyung, the initial whistleblower of the so-called 'Myung Tae-kyun Nomination Intervention Allegation,' as a reference. Kang claimed that during the 2022 20th presidential election, former President Yoon and his wife received free public opinion surveys from Mr. Myung in exchange for nominating former lawmaker Kim in the 6·1 by-election that year. Mr. Myung conducted 81 illegal public opinion surveys, and former Daegu Mayor Hong Joon-pyo and Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon are also under investigation by the special prosecutor team. Kang's lawyer submitted a box labeled 'Myung Tae-kyun PC and Kang Hye-kyung HDD (hard disk) 1, SSD (solid-state drive) 2 originals' to the special prosecutor team.
Meanwhile, the Rebellion and Foreign Exchange Special Prosecutor Team (Cho Eun-seok special prosecutor) attempted a third forced summons of former President Yoon on this day, but Yoon's side opposed by requesting a habeas corpus review in court. Yoon's side argues that there is no need to continue detention. The Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Appeal Division 9-2 (Judges Ryu Chang-seong, Jeong Hye-won, Choi Bo-won) will conduct the hearing from 10:15 a.m. on the 18th. The special prosecutor team also blocked external visits except for family and lawyers before the indictment of former President Yoon and conducted searches and seizures at eight locations, including the residence of former National Intelligence Service Director Cho Tae-yong, in connection with evidence destruction after the rebellion. Former Director Cho is suspected of remotely deleting information on a secure phone.
Chae Sang-byeong's special prosecutor team (Lee Myung-hyun special prosecutor) received the initial investigation records and handed them over to the Ministry of National Defense's prosecution team, summoning Choi Joo-won, former Gyeongbuk Police Chief (Superintendent), Kang Ui-gu, former Presidential Secretariat Chief, and Park Jung-hoon, Marine Corps Investigation Commander (Colonel), who had exposed investigation pressure, for questioning.




theknight@fnnews.com Jeong Kyung-soo, Seo Min-ji, Kim Dong-kyu, Choi Eun-sol reporters