Former JSTINA CEO Kim Gi-seok accused of 'insider trading', acquitted in first trial

The Court Does Not Acknowledge the Prosecution's Allegations

Kim Ki-seok, CEO of J.ESTINA

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Former CEO Kim Ki-seok of JSTINA, who was prosecuted for avoiding losses by selling shares before disclosing deficit performance, was acquitted in the first trial.

The Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 13 (Chief Judge Shin Hyuk-jae) acquitted former CEO Kim and Executive Director Lee, who were indicted for violating the Capital Markets and Financial Investment Business Act, on the 22nd.

The court ruled that it could not acknowledge the prosecution's claim that Kim and others used undisclosed information.

Former CEO Kim sold a large amount of shares he held before the company announced that it had posted losses for two consecutive years in February 2019. From February 1 to February 12, Kim sold a total of 346,653 shares through off-hours trading and on-market transactions. The total amount of shares sold was worth several billion won.

On February 12, the last day of Kim's large-scale sale, after the market closed, JSTINA disclosed that its annual operating loss had expanded 18 times from the previous year to 860 million won. Subsequently, the stock price, which was around 8,190 won, fell to the 5,000 won range about a month later in March.

When these suspicions were first raised, JSTINA denied the use of undisclosed information, stating that the shares were sold to raise funds to pay taxes.

Meanwhile, former CEO Kim was detained in December 2019 but was released on bail around May last year.

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