Bail Denied for KOSDAQ-Listed Company Chairman Who Helped Key Figure in ‘Sambu Construction Stock Rigging’ Flee

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[Financial News] A court has rejected a bail request for the chairman of a KOSDAQ-listed company accused of helping former vice chairman Kihun Lee, the "key man" in the Sambu Construction stock manipulation scandal, flee the country.
According to the legal community on the 4th, Criminal Division 22 of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Cho Hyung-woo, dismissed the previous day a bail application filed by a man identified only by his surname Lee, who is charged with harboring a criminal and related offenses. Bail is a system that allows a detained suspect or defendant to be released under certain conditions, such as posting a bond.
Lee is accused of assisting former vice chairman Lee when he went on the run last July, just before a court hearing to review his arrest warrant. Investigators found that Lee provided the vehicle and communication devices used in the former vice chairman’s escape.
At a bail hearing held on January 29, Lee’s side argued that, because he is also standing trial in a separate stock manipulation case, bail should be granted so he can properly exercise his right to defense. His attorney said Lee had committed the crime out of "personal sympathy" and asked the court to consider that he only helped for a period of three nights and four days. Lee told the court, "I deeply regret my reckless actions," and insisted, "I never helped him thinking that former vice chairman Lee would actually go on the run."
The Kim Keon Hee Special Prosecutor Team, led by Special Prosecutor Min Joong-gi, countered that Lee had previously been caught attempting to stow away while under investigation for stock manipulation. The team stressed that there is a strong risk of flight, destruction of evidence, and witness tampering, and therefore the trial should continue with him in custody.
Former vice chairman Lee was arrested in September last year in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province, 55 days after he went on the run, by the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Criminal Task Force.
theknight@fnnews.com Jung Kyung-soo Reporter