'Yeongpung Paper Stock Manipulation' Main Culprit Caught Off Jeju Coast

Report Received on Suspected Stowaway
Prosecutor's Investigation Expected to Accelerate

A loan shark surnamed Lee, identified as the main culprit in the Youngpoong Paper stock manipulation scandal, was apprehended last night off the coast of Seogwipo, Jeju Island. Lee had been on the run for three months to evade the prosecution's investigation.

According to the legal community on the 26th, the Jeju Regional Maritime Police Agency arrested Lee around 10:30 PM the previous day while he was on a ship heading to Vietnam. At the time of arrest, Lee was found hiding in the ship's storage room.

A group accused of manipulating Yeongpung Paper stock prices appeared at the Seoul Southern District Court in Yangcheon-gu last October for a pre-trial detention hearing (warrant review).
[Photo by Yonhap News]

With the capture of the main suspect Lee, the prosecution's investigation is expected to accelerate. Lee is the individual identified as the mastermind by accomplices previously indicted by the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office Financial Securities Crime Joint Investigation Unit (Chief Prosecutor Ha Dong-woo). During a trial held on the 19th, these accomplices claimed, "We mechanically bought and sold Youngpoong Paper stocks under Lee's instructions."

Earlier, the prosecution had arrested nine individuals involved in price manipulation and two accomplices, including a lawyer who aided Lee's escape, on charges including violations of the Capital Markets Act, and had been pursuing Lee.

Last October, when Youngpoong Paper suddenly hit the lower price limit, the prosecution began a forced investigation into the largest shareholder Daeyang Metal and the holding company Daeyang Holdings Company. The stock manipulation group, under Lee's orders, is accused of using over 110 accounts from February last year until just before the stock's plunge to manipulate Youngpoong Paper's stock prices a total of 38,875 times (equivalent to approximately 35.97 million shares), illicitly gaining 278.9 billion KRW in profits.

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