[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Seoyul] Three executives of the COVID-19 diagnostic kit company PHC, who are suspected of stock price manipulation, have all been arrested.
On the 4th, Kwon Giman, the warrant judge at the Seoul Southern District Court, held a warrant hearing for Kim, Choi, and Lee, three PHC officials suspected of violating the Capital Markets Act (fraudulent unfair trading, etc.), and issued arrest warrants for all of them.
The court judged that all three suspects pose a flight risk, and additionally determined that Kim has a risk of evidence tampering.
Earlier, on the 28th of last month, the Seoul Southern District Court held a warrant hearing for PHC CEO Choi and official Yeo, and decided to issue an arrest warrant for CEO Choi due to concerns over evidence tampering.
However, Yeo's warrant was dismissed as the court found that the objective facts seemed to have been clarified and the suspect generally admitted the charges, making detention unnecessary and unreasonable.
CEO Choi and others are accused of manipulating stock prices by spreading false information that PHC affiliate PhiloSys had received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its COVID-19 diagnostic kits in August 2020. At that time, the stock price, which was 1,300 won, surged by 558% to the 9,000 won range within 17 trading days.
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