On April 24, Lee Bokhyun, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, confirmed that the investigation into the suspected stock price manipulation of Sambu Construction had not uncovered any evidence implicating Kim Keonhee, wife of former President Yoon Sukyeol, or Lee Jongho, former CEO of Black Pearl Investment. He stated that all relevant investigation materials had been handed over to the prosecution without exception, emphasizing, "Now it is the prosecution's turn."
At a briefing on capital market issues held at the Financial Supervisory Service in Yeouido that morning, Governor Lee said, "We conducted a comprehensive investigation into allegations that certain high-profile individuals were involved in Sambu Construction's stock price manipulation, but so far, nothing has been found that would warrant a criminal complaint."
The Securities and Futures Commission of the Financial Services Commission had, the previous day, filed a criminal complaint with the prosecution against more than ten individuals, including Sambu Construction's former and current de facto owners and CEOs, on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act's prohibition on unfair trading practices. However, Mrs. Kim and her account manager, former CEO Lee, were not included among those reported to the prosecution.
Governor Lee explained, "We deployed more personnel than usual for this investigation and thoroughly tracked all fund flows," adding, "We expanded the scope of the investigation to include all accounts that could reasonably be suspected, such as those with significant gains or high volumes of stock trading, and made every effort within the authority of the Financial Supervisory Service to examine all allegations raised."
He said, "All materials related to the allegations have been transferred to the prosecution so that the appropriateness of the financial authorities' judgment can be objectively reviewed by the prosecution, which possesses a high level of investigative expertise and capability. Now it is the prosecution's turn." He added, "The financial authorities plan to actively cooperate with the prosecution's investigation."
Regarding media reports that the illicit gains from the Sambu Construction stock price manipulation ring, previously estimated at around 10 billion won, had been confirmed to be as much as 66 billion won, Governor Lee said, "At this stage, it is difficult to confirm that." When asked whether face-to-face or written investigations had been conducted on specific individuals, he replied, "It is difficult to specify who, but we directly investigated various individuals," and added, "Since the prosecution's investigation is ongoing, it is hard to specify the timing of any particular individual's questioning."
Additionally, Governor Lee confirmed that in the process of filing criminal complaints against those suspected of Sambu Construction stock price manipulation, the Wellbiotech case, in which similar allegations were raised, was also referred to the prosecution.
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