Former Journalist and Investor Released on Bail After Gaining 11.2 Billion Won by Inflating Stock Prices Through News Articles

Charges Include Violations of the Capital Markets Act

A former journalist and an investor with a securities firm background, who profited illicitly by selling stocks they had purchased in advance after boosting share prices through favorable news articles about specific stocks, have been released on bail after making unjust gains totaling billions of won.

Seoul Yangcheon District, Seoul Southern District Court. Photo by Jiye Lee

On May 19, the Criminal Division 11 of the Seoul Southern District Court (Presiding Judge Jang Chan) announced that it had granted bail to former journalist A (aged 50) and full-time investor B (aged 47), formerly of a securities company, who had been indicted and detained on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act, among others.

Bail is a system that temporarily releases a detained defendant by suspending the execution of their detention, typically under conditions such as the payment of a security deposit. As a result, the two individuals will now stand trial without physical detention.

According to prosecutors, A and others were indicted and detained on charges of purchasing target stocks in advance before publishing articles about specific stocks, then selling them immediately after publication once the prices rose, thereby making profits. The two are believed to have gained a total of approximately 11.2 billion won through such "front-running" trades.

The criminal acts reportedly continued for about eight years, from 2017 until June last year. In the early stages, it is known that A used the names of journalists from the economic newspaper where he worked or instructed others to write articles about particular stocks.

Prosecutors believe that later, the suspects used fictitious names for reporting or wrote and distributed similar articles themselves through other media outlets.

However, A and the others are denying the charges.

The next trial is scheduled for June 1.

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