'Former Esmo CEO Involved in Lime Scandal, Appeals First Trial Sentence of 5 Years Imprisonment'

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] The former CEO of a KOSDAQ-listed company, who was prosecuted for making hundreds of billions of won in illegal profits through stock price manipulation using false press releases, has appealed the first trial verdict that sentenced him to five years in prison.

On the 22nd, according to the Criminal Division 12 of the Seoul Southern District Court (Chief Judge Yoo Jin-hyun), Kim, the former CEO of Esmo, submitted an appeal to the court on the same day.

Previously, the court sentenced Kim, who was indicted on charges including violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (embezzlement), to five years in prison and a fine of 300 million won. The court acquitted him on some of the charges but found him guilty on most counts.

In particular, the court found all charges of fraudulent unfair trading, payment of false employee salaries, false service contracts of Esmo, and false employee salaries at Esmo's Chinese subsidiary to be guilty. Regarding the use of Esmo's corporate card, usage before November 2017 was acquitted, while usage after that date was judged guilty.

The court stated, "The fraudulent unfair trading in this case posed a significant risk of causing great harm to general investors and undermined the fairness of the stock market," adding, "It is a socially serious crime."

Kim was indicted on charges of conspiring with Chairman Lee of Esmo while serving as the CEO of Esmo's subsidiary to acquire a listed company through a no-capital merger and acquisition (M&A), artificially boosting stock prices by distributing false disclosures or press releases related to new businesses, thereby obtaining unfair profits such as capital gains.

He is also accused of exaggerating and fabricating that Esmo was developing and supplying electric vehicle parts together with a British defense company after signing a business agreement to assist the company's entry into the Korean market in 2017. Additionally, he faces charges of embezzlement and breach of trust by registering false employees at Esmo and paying their salaries.

It is known that funds from Lime Asset Management's fund, which caused a large-scale redemption suspension incident, were injected during their M&A process.