Stock Manipulation: Head Of Investment Consulting Firm Sent To 25 Years In Jail

Seoul: The head of an investment consulting firm was sentenced to 25 years in prison here on Thursday over a massive stock manipulation scheme that rocked local financial markets.

The Seoul Southern District Court said it also ordered Ra Deok-yeon, the head of the unregis-tered firm, to pay a fine of 146.5 billion won ($101 million) and a forfeit of 194.4 billion won.

Ra was indicted on charges of pocketing 737.7 billion won from 2019 to 2023 by selling off the stocks of eight listed companies after raising their prices through fixing, reports Yonhap news agency.

Two of his accomplices, surnamed Byun and An, were sentenced to prison terms of six years and 3 1/2 years, respectively.

“The stock manipulation was unprecedentedly large in scale,” the court said in delivering the rul-ing. “Multiple innocent investors suffered irrecoverable losses.”

The court also said Ra denies the charges and shows no remorse despite having planned and led the crime.

In another development, the Supreme Court here on Thursday upheld an appeals court ruling that overturned the TV media watchdog’s 2020 decision to impose a six-month shutdown penalty on cable channel MBN over illegal financing and accounting fraud.