'Illegal Investment Solicitation During Trial' Lee Cheol, VIK CEO, Sentenced to Additional 2 Years 6 Months Imprisonment

Confirmed 12-Year Prison Sentence in September Last Year
30,000 Victims of Multi-Level Marketing Financial Fraud

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Lee Cheol, CEO of Value Invest Korea (VIK), who was re-indicted on charges of attracting a large amount of illegal investment while on trial for establishing an unauthorized investment company and deceiving investors, was additionally sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison in the first trial.

Lee had previously been sentenced to 12 years in prison, which was finalized. If this sentence is also finalized as is, he will have to serve a total of 14 years and 6 months.

On the 6th, Judge Jeong Jin-won of the Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 3 sentenced Lee on charges including violation of the Capital Markets and Financial Investment Business Act.

Lee was prosecuted in 2016 for his involvement in a paid-in capital increase of company B, an investee of VIK, from 2015 to 2016, during which he raised 61.9 billion KRW without submitting a securities registration statement.

He was also charged with selling 100 billion KRW worth of Shinrajen shares, which was an unlisted company at the time, without financial authorities' approval.

At the time of the crime, Lee was detained and prosecuted on charges of attracting illegal investments amounting to about 700 billion KRW but was released on bail while awaiting trial.

Judge Jeong stated, "The defendant spread false information such as the investment target being listed on the US NASDAQ," and "Considering the substantial amount of investment and the fact that a significant portion of the damage has not been recovered, the nature of the crime is serious."

However, the court ruled that Lee's act of raising investment funds did not constitute a quasi-deposit-taking act and acquitted him of the quasi-deposit-taking charges.

Previously, Lee's 12-year prison sentence was finalized by the Supreme Court in September last year. From 2011 for four years, he raised about 700 billion KRW from approximately 30,000 people through crowdfunding without financial authorities' approval.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.