"Non-Public Information Stock Trading" LG Family Eldest Daughter and Husband Acquitted in First Trial

Gu Yeonkyung, head of the LG Welfare Foundation and eldest daughter of the late Gu Bonmoo, former chairman of LG Group, and her husband Yoon Gwan, CEO of BlueRun Ventures (BRV), who had been brought to trial on charges of gaining unfair profits by using non-public information, were acquitted in the first trial.

On the 10th, the 13th Criminal Division of the Seoul Southern District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Sangyeon) found both Gu and Yoon, who had been indicted without detention on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act and the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act, not guilty.

Gu was accused of having learned in advance that BRV would receive an investment from Mezzion, a company developing new drugs to treat rare heart diseases, and of purchasing shares based on that information to obtain unfair profits of about 105.66 million won. Mezzion had announced that it raised 50 billion won through a third-party allotment paid-in capital increase from BRV Capital Management, and at that time, BRV’s chief investment officer was Gu’s husband, CEO Yoon.

The court stated, “There is no direct evidence as to at what point and in what manner CEO Yoon conveyed the information to Gu,” adding, “There is no recording, nor is there anyone who heard such a conversation.”

The court also found that the circumstantial evidence presented by the prosecution was insufficient to establish the charges. It said, “It is difficult to see that Gu showed an unusually aggressive attitude when purchasing the shares, or that there was any pattern markedly different from her other stock purchases,” and added, “Even when the circumstantial facts are considered together, it is difficult to find the indictment facts proven guilty, and, rather, more circumstances are found that contradict the indictment. It appears to have been an overreaching indictment.”

Earlier, at the sentencing hearing held in December last year, the prosecution had sought a two-year prison term and a fine of 50 million won for Yoon, and a one-year prison term, a fine of 20 million won, and forfeiture of 105.66 million won for Gu. Throughout the trial, the two fully denied the charges, asserting that they had neither shared investment information related to Company A nor used it to conduct stock transactions.

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