The prosecution has decided not to indict former Dow Kiwoom Group Chairman Kim Ik-rae and singer Lim Chang-jung, who were suspected of being involved in the 'Soci?t? G?n?rale (SG)-triggered stock price crash,' considered the largest stock price manipulation case in history. This decision comes 13 months after the incident occurred.
On the other hand, Kim, an initial business partner of Ra Deok-yeon, the key figure in this case, and the first to report the price manipulation to the media and financial authorities last year, was indicted without detention.
On the 31st, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office announced that it had decided not to indict former Chairman Kim and Lim the previous day.
The SG incident began on April 24 last year when eight stocks, including Daesung Holdings, suddenly hit the lower price limit simultaneously in the domestic stock market. Just before the stock price crash, on April 20 last year, former Chairman Kim sold 1.4 million shares of Dow Data, one of the eight stocks, through an off-hours block deal worth approximately 60.543 billion won. This raised suspicions that he might have received undisclosed information just before the crash and sold a large volume in advance.
However, after more than a year of investigation, the prosecution concluded that there was no evidence against former Chairman Kim. According to the prosecution, there was no record that Kiwoom Securities reported information related to the price manipulation target stocks to former Chairman Kim, and the timing when he considered selling the stocks was identified as about three months before the incident, in January last year. It was confirmed that former Chairman Kim began actively attempting block deals around the end of March last year, when the obligation to return short-term trading profits applied to executives and major shareholders expired.
Additionally, the prosecution explained that Kiwoom Securities changed the margin rate for Contracts for Difference (CFD) from 40% to 100% after the market closed on the day of the stock price crash, and the suspicion that forced sales and stock price declines occurred due to this margin rate change is not true.
Regarding singer Lim Chang-jung, who was suspected of participating in the criminal organization after it was revealed that he attended an investor meeting hosted by Ra, the prosecution also decided not to indict him. The prosecution stated that Lim neither received investment profits nor any compensation for attracting investments from Ra, and no evidence was found that he participated in the crime.
Kim, who first reported this incident to the media, was indicted without detention the previous day. Kim is an accomplice who established an investment advisory firm with Ra in March 2020 and co-operated until May 2022, participating in the price manipulation crime. Kim faces charges of price manipulation, conducting unregistered discretionary investment business (violations of the Capital Markets Act), and disguising criminal proceeds as legitimate income (violation of the Act on Concealment and Transfer of Criminal Proceeds).
As a result, the total number of people indicted in connection with the SG incident is now 57.
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