Business · Markets · 2 hrs ago
South Korea’s Supreme Court upholds sentences in stock manipulation case
South Korea’s Supreme Court upheld convictions for two people who manipulated a company’s share price during a takeover effort.
The case involved a company listed on the KOSDAQ market, South Korea’s market for smaller companies.
One person helped recruit investors and plan the scheme, while the other carried out repeated small share purchases to push the price up or stop it falling.
From December 2020 to February 2021, the trader placed 5,142 orders linked to price manipulation.
The court upheld prison terms of one year and six months and two years and six months, along with fines; a stock chat-room operator was acquitted.
The Supreme Court’s ruling makes the sentences final after appeals were rejected.
South Korea’s Supreme Court upheld prison sentences for two people convicted of manipulating the share price of a KOSDAQ-listed company during an attempted takeover.
One received a sentence of one year and six months in prison and a 300 million won fine, while the other received two years and six months in prison and a 500 million won fine.
The second person was found to have submitted 5,142 share-trading orders from December 2020 to February 2021 to raise or support the company’s share price.
The court rejected both appeals, leaving the lower-court rulings in place.
A stock-chatroom operator who was also charged was acquitted, and that ruling was upheld.
- Who
- Two people involved in the attempted takeover were convicted; a stock-chatroom operator was acquitted.
- What
- The Supreme Court upheld prison sentences and fines for share-price manipulation.
- When
- The ruling was finalized on October 1, 2026, and reported on October 27.
- Where
- South Korea.
- Why
- The two were convicted of placing repeated orders to raise or support the share price during an attempted company takeover.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
One of the defendants was asked to help with the takeover and began seeking financial investors.
The other defendant submitted 5,142 orders, including high-price purchase and price-fixing orders.
The Supreme Court finalized the sentences and rejected the two defendants’ appeals.
News reports announced the Supreme Court’s ruling.
- Sentence for first defendant
- 1 year and 6 months in prison; 300 million won fine
- Sentence for second defendant
- 2 years and 6 months in prison; 500 million won fine
- Manipulation orders
- 5,142 from December 2020 to February 2021
- Order breakdown
- 1,754 high-price purchase orders; 3,373 price-fixing orders; 15 volume-exhaustion orders
- Acquitted co-defendant
- Stock-chatroom operator
- Supreme Court
- First Division, presided over by Justice Cheon Dae-yup
3 sources
What people are saying
A committed the crime by taking the lead in planning it and having B directly carry it out, creating a risk of harming the fairness and credibility of the capital market and misleading ordinary investors' investment decisions
The conduct was poor and the responsibility was also heavy