[Breaking] Prosecutors Indict Independent Lawmaker Lee Chun-seok Without Detention Over Alleged Stock Trading Under Another Person’s Name

[Financial News] Independent lawmaker Lee Chun-seok, who is accused of trading stocks through an account held in an aide’s name and accepting ceremonial gifts exceeding the statutory limit, has been indicted.
The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office’s Financial Investigation Division 2, headed by Chief Prosecutor Kim Tae-gyeom, announced on the 8th that it had indicted Lee without detention on charges of violating the Act on Real Name Financial Transactions and Confidentiality, the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, the Public Service Ethics Act, and the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act.
Aide A, who allegedly lent Lee a securities account and mobile phone, senior secretary B, who is accused of destroying evidence at A’s direction, and four acquaintances who allegedly provided ceremonial gifts exceeding the statutory limit were also indicted without detention.
According to prosecutors, Lee is accused of receiving from A a mobile phone with a securities trading application installed and its password around March 2020, while serving as a member of the 20th National Assembly, and again around June 2024, shortly after taking office as a member of the 22nd National Assembly. He allegedly used the securities account in A’s name to trade stocks. He is also accused of holding stocks worth more than 30 million won in an account under another person’s name without selling them or placing them in a blind trust within the statutory deadline.
Lee was also charged with accepting money and other valuables exceeding the statutory limit from four acquaintances around 2021, while serving as Secretary General of the National Assembly, in the form of condolence money for his mother’s funeral and wedding gifts for his daughter’s wedding.
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