The special investigation team led by Kim Keon-hee plans to summon and investigate Lee Il-jun, chairman of SAMBU Construction, and Jeong Chang-rae, former representative, on the 9th and 10th, as announced on the 7th.
On that day, Moon Hong-joo, a special investigator from the Kim Keon-hee special investigation team, noted in a media briefing, "We plan to investigate Jeong Chang-rae, the former representative of SAMBU Construction, at 10 a.m. on the 9th and summon Lee Il-jun, the current chairman of SAMBU Construction, for a hearing at 10 a.m. on the 10th."
Jeong Chang-rae, the former representative, is a former prosecutor from the 27th Judicial Research and Training Institute. After leaving the prosecution, he practiced as a lawyer and was appointed as the representative of DYD, the major shareholder of SAMBU Construction, in 2023, and later took on the role of representative of SAMBU Construction.
Lee Il-jun established Dae Yang Construction in Naju, Jeollanam-do, in 1993 and engaged in real estate development before acquiring several KOSDAQ-listed companies in succession in 2018. After changing the name of the acquired company to DYD in 2021, he acquired SAMBU Construction through DYD in 2023.
The stock manipulation allegations against SAMBU Construction are based on claims that stock manipulation activities were involved in the surge of SAMBU Construction's stock price as it emerged as a key player in the Ukraine reconstruction theme from 2022 to 2023.
Lee Jong-ho, the former head of Black Pearl Invest who managed Kim Keon-hee's accounts, reportedly sent a message in a KakaoTalk group chat with acquaintances who are Marine Corps veterans on May 14, 2023, saying, "Check SAMBU tomorrow."
Two days later (May 16), former President Yoon and his wife met with Olena Zelenska, the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Six days later (May 22), then-Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Won Hee-ryong and SAMBU Construction officials attended the Ukraine Global Reconstruction Forum held in Poland.
Subsequently, on May 23, SAMBU Construction signed a memorandum of understanding related to reconstruction projects with the city of Mariupol in Ukraine and construction companies in Poland, then made this public. The stock price of SAMBU Construction remained in the 1,000 won range until mid-May 2023, then surged to 5,500 won during trading by mid-July.
Meanwhile, on that day, the special investigation team stated that it was summoning officials from the Eurasian Economic Association for questioning. This association is a non-profit organization that SAMBU Construction signed a memorandum of understanding with for Ukraine's reconstruction a year before its stock began to rise, in June 2022. At that time, SAMBU Construction's participation in the Ukraine reconstruction project did not attract much attention from stock market investors, and its stock price did not significantly fluctuate.