Illegal stock-tipping chatroom operator A said it recruited paid membership subscribers by claiming to provide stock investment information on YouTube and the internet. It was found that after the company's major shareholder bought shares in advance, A recommended the same stocks to members and then sold all holdings when the price rose. As a result, investors in A are said to have suffered losses exceeding 4 billion won. It was also found that a co-founder of the company set up a separate company, made it look like it was supplying videos to A, received funds from A, and used the money to buy an apartment.
The National Tax Service said on the 6th that it is conducting tax audits of 31 companies, including A, on suspicion of involvement in unfair capital market transaction. The income on which these corporations did not pay taxes is said to exceed 2 trillion won. Of the 31 companies, 23 are listed. Eight are KOSPI-listed and 15 are KOSDAQ-listed. The types of alleged wrongdoing by those surveyed are divided into three categories: ▲ stock manipulation ▲ tunneling (diverting company funds to corporations operated by major shareholders or related parties) ▲ illegal stock-tipping chatroom operations.
It was found that the group that acquired B, which is included among those surveyed, deceived investors by falsely claiming to launch a new business to boost the stock price and issued fake tax invoices totaling more than 20 billion won. It was found that more than 30 billion won in investment funds was also remitted to overseas corporations whose actual business status is unclear. In this process, when the stock price rose, the speculative forces used their convertible bonds to reap capital gains and then transferred them at low prices, causing losses to small investors.
C is suspected of deliberately delisting the company by inflating head office operating losses and refusing to submit materials to an accounting firm. Once delisted, the company could escape various disclosure obligations and potentially be run at the major shareholder's discretion. It was found that C transferred key production functions to an overseas corporation owned by the major shareholder but did not receive more than 20 billion won in compensation for the manufacturing technology transfer. The company is also suspected of inserting another overseas corporation of the major shareholder into the transaction process to collect a so-called toll of more than 3 billion won.
It was found that D invested more than 50 billion won of company funds in a private equity fund set up by an associate of the major shareholder. The fund is said to have acquired more than 10 billion won in convertible bonds from insolvent corporations controlled by the major shareholder. In addition, D is suspected of paying more than 8 billion won in the major shareholder's personal legal expense and paying annual salaries of more than 2 billion won to the major shareholder's relatives.
Meanwhile, the National Tax Service launched a second round of audits of new companies after conducting tax audits of 27 tax evasion cases involving unfair practices in the stock market in Jul. last year. An official at the National Tax Service said, "If, during the audit, acts subject to punishment under the Punishment of Tax Offenses Act—such as destruction of evidence or concealment of assets—are confirmed, we will file complaints with investigative agencies to ensure criminal penalties follow."