Prosecution Arrests and Indicts Kwon Oh-soo for 'Deutsche Stock Manipulation'... Investigation of Kim Gun-hee Continues

by Kim Daehyun

Published 03 Dec.2021 17:15(KST)

Chairman Kwon Oh-soo of Deutsch Motors under suspicion of stock manipulation and breach of trust / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The prosecution has indicted Kwon Osu (63), chairman of Deutsche Motors, on charges of stock price manipulation and breach of trust.

On the 3rd, the Anti-Corruption and Violent Crime Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Jo Jooyeon) indicted Chairman Kwon on charges including violation of the Capital Markets Act.

Previously, Chairman Kwon, who served as the largest shareholder or CEO of Deutsche Motors, is accused of leaking internal company information to boost the stock price and engaging in stock price manipulation to prevent the stock price from falling.

It was investigated that Chairman Kwon mobilized external forces as 'players' to create stronger buying momentum. The prosecution believes that Kwon contacted people from securities firms or investment advisory companies, providing various favorable internal information and requesting stock price support or management.

The prosecution's view is that from December 2009 for about three years, Chairman Kwon and others directly purchased approximately 15.99 million shares (worth about 63.6 billion KRW) of Deutsche Motors stock or induced customers to buy through illegal means.

Meanwhile, related parties including Lee, the representative of an investment company who conspired with Chairman Kwon to participate in stock price manipulation (violation of the Capital Markets Act), have also been brought to trial.

The investigation into this case originally began last April when a complaint was filed regarding suspicions of stock price manipulation involvement by Kim Gunhee, wife of Yoon Seok-yeol, the People Power Party's presidential candidate. Yoon's camp denies the allegations, stating, "They only entrusted the transactions and suffered losses."