Embezzlement of Company Funds for Stock Manipulation?…Ostem Implant Employee Accused of Embezzling 190 Billion Won

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji Yeon-jin] Kosdaq-listed company Osstem Implant has filed a complaint with the police against a finance management employee on suspicion of embezzling nearly 190 billion won of company funds. This employee is presumed to be the person who bought shares of Dongjin Semichem with company money, suffered losses, and then resold them. The stock price of the said company rose sharply, prompting the Korea Exchange to launch an investigation.

Osstem Implant announced on the 3rd that it submitted a complaint to the Gangseo Police Station in Seoul on the 31st of last month against employee Lee (surname) for embezzling 188 billion won. This amount corresponds to 91.81% of Osstem Implant's equity capital.

According to the Korea Exchange, the employee is presumed to be the same person as Lee (45), who attracted attention by purchasing a 7.62% stake (3,917,431 shares) in Dongjin Semichem on October 1st of last year. Lee's acquisition price for Dongjin Semichem shares was 36,492 won per share, totaling approximately 143 billion won.

Lee sold 3,367,431 shares from November 18 to December 20 of the same year. The average selling price was about 34,000 won per share, approximately 7% lower than the acquisition price. Lee recovered 111.2 billion won in cash from the stock sales. It is reported that Lee still holds a 1.07% stake in Dongjin Semichem.

The stock price of Dongjin Semichem began to rally, rising 18.22% on December 21, the day after Lee sold the shares. On December 30, it rose another 14.48%, reaching a new high and surpassing 51,000 won. The Korea Exchange is investigating, believing that the person who disclosed the acquisition and disposal of Dongjin Semichem shares is the same Lee from Osstem Implant. Given that the embezzlement amount from Osstem Implant is close to 92% of its equity capital, the exchange is focusing on the possibility of fund recovery and is reviewing whether to conduct a substantive examination of listing eligibility.

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