The prosecution requested the court to sentence former Deutsche Motors Chairman Kwon Oh-soo to 8 years in prison, the same as in the first trial, in the appeal trial where he was indicted on suspicion of 'Deutsche Motors stock price manipulation' and sentenced to 2 years in prison with a 3-year probation in the first trial.
Former Deutsch Motors Chairman Kwon Oh-soo, accused of involvement in stock price manipulation, is attending the sentencing hearing for the appeal trial on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act at the Seoul High Court on the 2nd. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@
On the 2nd, at the sentencing hearing for former Chairman Kwon's violation of the Capital Markets Act held by the Criminal Division 5 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Kwon Soon-hyung, Judges Ahn Seung-hoon and Shim Seung-woo), the prosecution demanded 8 years in prison and a fine of 15 billion KRW. They also requested the court to confiscate approximately 8.13 billion KRW.
The prosecution stated, "Price manipulation obstructs the fair formation of stock prices and causes unforeseen losses to many innocent investors, constituting a serious criminal act," adding, "The crime was committed in an organized and planned manner over a long period, with the amount involved reaching hundreds of billions of KRW, indicating a considerable scale."
Additionally, the prosecution requested the same sentencing as in the first trial for the defendants indicted on the same charges. The prosecution demanded 5 years in prison, a fine of 10 billion KRW, and confiscation of approximately 580,000 KRW for Kim, a stock price manipulation player, and 7 years in prison, a fine of 10 billion KRW, and confiscation of 948.5 million KRW for Lee.
For Son, who was acquitted in the first trial on charges of conspiracy to manipulate stock prices but had the charge of 'aiding and abetting' added in the appeal trial, the prosecution demanded 3 years in prison and a fine of 5 billion KRW, stating, "He is at least guilty of aiding and abetting by participating in artificially influencing the market price through large-scale stock purchases using a 10 billion KRW loan."
If the appellate court recognizes Son's aiding and abetting charge, there is a possibility that calls for investigation into Kim Geon-hee, wife of President Yoon Seok-youl, who is also suspected of being a 'broker' in this stock manipulation case, will increase. Kim was reported in April 2020 for violating the Capital Markets Act, but the prosecution has neither indicted nor dismissed the case after four years.
Former Chairman Kwon was indicted on charges of conspiring with 'stock price manipulation players,' a boutique investment advisory firm, and current and former securities company executives to manipulate the stock price of Deutsche Motors by using 157 accounts under 91 names through abnormal transactions from December 2009 to December 2012. In the first trial, he was sentenced to 2 years in prison with a 3-year probation and fined 300 million KRW.
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