Dozens of Illegal Fund-Raising and Stock Manipulation Cases on the Rise Each Year in Gwangju and South Jeolla Province

Han Byungdo: "Unfair Trading Practices Must Be Strictly Punished"

It has been found that crimes disrupting the economic market, such as investment fraud and stock price manipulation, are on the rise in Gwangju and South Jeolla Province.

According to data submitted by Assemblyman Han Byungdo of the Democratic Party of Korea (Iksan-eul, North Jeolla Province) from the National Police Agency on September 18, there were a total of 176 cases of violations of the Act on Regulation of Conducting Fund-Raising Business without Permission and the Capital Markets Act in Gwangju and South Jeolla Province between 2020 and 2024.

By year, there were 35 cases in 2020, 15 in 2021, 26 in 2022, 46 in 2023, and 52 in 2024, showing a steady increase since 2021.

In Gwangju, there were 40 cases of violations of the Act on Regulation of Conducting Fund-Raising Business without Permission detected last year, ranking fourth nationwide after Seoul (480 cases), Southern Gyeonggi Province (113 cases), and Busan (117 cases).

Violations of the Act on Regulation of Conducting Fund-Raising Business without Permission involve collecting funds from an unspecified number of people without approval from financial authorities, which mainly includes investment fraud and illegal multi-level marketing schemes. Violations of the Capital Markets Act often involve disclosing false information or distributing materials to manipulate stock prices and obtain unfair profits.

Assemblyman Han stated, "There is a growing trend of malicious crimes exploiting the increasing interest of individual investors in stocks and cryptocurrency," and emphasized, "Unfair trading practices that infringe on the property rights of innocent investors and undermine market trust must be strictly punished."