Mr. Ra Deok-yeon, who is undergoing a second trial on charges of manipulating the stock prices of eight listed companies to gain an unjust profit worth 737.7 billion won, was released on the 16th after receiving a court's bail approval.
The 3rd Criminal Division of the Seoul High Court, led by Director General Lee Seung-han, approved Mr. Ra's bail request, who was indicted on charges of violating the Capital Market Act. The court set the bail conditions for Mr. Ra, including a deposit of 200 million won and restrictions on his residence. Additional conditions included attendance at court, signing a pledge to prevent evidence destruction, and real-time location tracking.
Previously, Mr. Ra requested bail from the court on the 9th. The court held a bail hearing on the 15th. Mr. Ra's attorney noted during the hearing that "it is true that Mr. Ra once had significant assets, but he currently has debts of about 8 billion won, and those have been confiscated."
Mr. Ra was arrested and indicted in May 2023 on charges of operating an unregistered investment advisory firm since 2019 and manipulating the stock prices of eight listed companies to gain an unjust profit worth approximately 737.7 billion won. He was also additionally indicted in November 2023 for evading 71.8 billion won in income tax and value-added taxes, and in April of the previous year, he faced additional charges for issuing fraudulent invoices worth 10.4 billion won. The prosecution has brought a total of 56 individuals to trial regarding this case, including Mr. Ra.
Mr. Ra was released on bail in May of last year while the first trial was ongoing. However, the first trial sentenced Mr. Ra to 25 years in prison, a fine of 1.4651 trillion won, and a confiscation order of 1.9448 trillion won on the 2nd of February.
Both Mr. Ra and the prosecution have appealed the first trial's verdict. The second trial has been ongoing at the Seoul High Court since April.