The first pretrial hearing for Lee Il-jun, chairman of SAMBU Construction, and Lee Eung-geun, former representative of SAMBU Construction, accused of violating the Capital Market and Financial Investment Business Act, concluded on the 26th after about 35 minutes. Both men denied the charges during the trial. This case is the first indictment filed since the launch of the Kim Keon-hee special investigation team.
The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 34 (presided over by Director General Han Sung-jin) conducted the first pretrial hearing for Lee Il-jun, chairman of SAMBU Construction, and Lee Eung-geun, former representative of SAMBU Construction, who are accused of violating the Capital Market and Financial Investment Business Act.
A pretrial hearing is a procedure for organizing the issues, evidence, and future schedule regarding the case prior to the formal trial. The defendant is not obligated to attend, but the chairman appeared in court that day wearing a brown suit. The former representative also appeared in court in formal attire.
Earlier, the Kim Keon-hee special investigation team indicted the two men on the 1st while they were in custody in connection with the allegations of 'stock manipulation by SAMBU Construction.'
The allegation of stock manipulation by SAMBU Construction is that between 2022 and 2023, as SAMBU Construction rapidly emerged as a theme stock for the reconstruction of Ukraine, there was manipulation by stock manipulation forces behind the surge in stock prices. The chairman and others are suspected of deceiving investors into believing that SAMBU Construction would actively pursue reconstruction projects in Ukraine around May to June 2023, thereby inflating the stock price before selling their holdings and pocketing unlawful gains amounting to 36.9 billion won.
Both legal representatives of the two men denied the charges during the trial. The chairman's attorney said, "We generally deny the allegations of the special investigation team and intend to contest them on grounds of not guilty." The former representative's attorney also stated, "We assert not guilty," adding, "We need to contest the entirety of the factual basis for the indictment." They claimed that there were unclear or contradictory aspects regarding the timing of the alleged collusion or commencement of the crime and whether the defendants obtained unjust profits.
The attorneys also requested access to and copying of evidence from the special investigation team, but they argued that the team selectively permitted and provided the evidence that they should have properly provided. It is reported that the evidence held by the special investigation team related to this case amounts to over 13,000 pages.
In response, the special investigation team stated, "While the investigation records may not be disclosed yet due to co-conspirators not being indicted, all evidence can be accessed and copied upon request."
The court decided to hold another pretrial hearing considering the time required for the review of the evidence and the defendants' side. The second pretrial hearing is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. on September 12.