'EcoPro Former Chairman Suspended Sentence for 1.1 Billion Won Profit from Insider Trading'

Law: "Corporate Heads Neglect Social Responsibility... Even Concealing Criminal Profits"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] The former chairman of a KOSDAQ-listed company who gained unfair profits using undisclosed information of the company he managed was sentenced to probation in the first trial.

The Criminal Division 11 of the Seoul Southern District Court (Presiding Judge Sung Bo-gi) announced on the 7th that it sentenced Lee Mo (63), former chairman of Ecopro, who was indicted for violating the Capital Markets Act and the Act on the Regulation and Punishment of Criminal Proceeds Concealment, to 3 years in prison with 5 years probation and a fine of 3.5 billion KRW.

The court stated, "As the head of a corporate group, he had a social responsibility to lead transparent profit realization through moderate management activities, but he betrayed this duty," and added, "In the process, he used nominee accounts and even disguised criminal proceeds by providing funds to his children for stock trading, which makes the nature of the crime serious."

Earlier, Chairman Lee was prosecuted on charges of purchasing stocks in advance using nominee securities accounts before the company's mid- to long-term supply contract information was posted on the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system from January 2020 to September last year, and then reselling them to earn about 1.1 billion KRW in capital gains.

Five current and former executives and employees of Ecopro and its affiliate Ecopro BM, who gained unfair profits in a similar manner, were also indicted and received sentences ranging from 1 year to 1 year and 6 months in prison with probation or fines.

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