After purchasing specific stocks, an individual was handed over to the prosecution for profiting from selling shares after spreading rumors linked to a politician, causing the stock price to rise.
On the 8th, the Financial Services Commission's Securities Futures Commission notified the prosecution of individual A on charges of violating the Capital Markets and Financial Investment Business Act.
According to the Securities Futures Commission, individual A pre-purchased 15 stocks related to a specific politician as theme stocks with the intention of gaining profit from trading ahead of last year's general elections in April.
He repeatedly posted on stock-related site bulletin boards, saying, “The outside director is friends with OOO on Facebook,” and “Is OOO running for Yongsan?? The headquarters is a company located in Yongsan,” highlighting political theme stocks only based on connections, region, and policy similarities.
Individual A posted several times until he sold all his holdings. Right after selling, he deleted related posts.
The Financial Services Commission stated, “If false facts or rumors are produced or disseminated through platforms like YouTube and Telegram, it may be subject to punishment as unfair trading,” adding, “Severe actions will be taken if allegations are found.”
Meanwhile, the Securities Futures Commission took action based on the investigation results of 113 cases of unfair trading, disclosure violations, and short-selling regulation violations last year.
By type, there were 20 cases of fraudulent trading, 5 cases of market manipulation, 21 cases of using undisclosed important information, 2 cases of market disorder, 46 cases of violation of disclosure and reporting obligations, and 19 cases of violation of short-selling regulations. By type of action, there were 51 cases of prosecution referral or notification, 49 penalty surcharges, 9 fines, and 4 restrictions on securities issuance.