Koo Yeon-kyung, head of the LG Welfare Foundation, and her husband, Yoon Kwan, head of BlueRun Ventures (BRV), who were put on trial on charges of profiting unfairly by using nonpublic information, were acquitted in the first trial.
The Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 13 (Presiding Judge Kim Sang-yeon) on the 10th acquitted Yoon and Koo, who were indicted without detention on charges of violating the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act. Koo is the eldest daughter of the late Koo Bon-moo, former chair of LG Group.
The couple was indicted on charges of gaining unfair profits by using nonpublic, material information related to a paid-in capital increase by Mezzion Pharma, a KOSDAQ-listed biotech corporation.
Prosecutors said Koo in April 2023 acquired 34,990 shares of Mezzion Pharma, worth about 650 million won, using undisclosed investment-attraction information. At the time, Mezzion Pharma raised 50 billion won through a third-party paid-in capital increase from BRV, where Yoon is chief investment officer (CIO).
The defense said they had never shared related investment information, and that the nonpublic information was created after Koo bought the shares, denying the charges.
The court said, "It does not appear that deep conversations about stock purchases and sales usually took place between the two," adding, "Koo did not appear particularly aggressive when buying Mezzion Pharma shares, nor did the trading pattern look unusual compared with other stocks."
The court found it hard to conclude that Mezzion Pharma shares were bought using nonpublic, material information, considering that the size of the purchase was small relative to other stock purchases or Koo's asset, and that after buying Mezzion Pharma shares, Koo did not take profits and instead granted the entire amount to the LG Welfare Foundation a year later.
The court said, "It is difficult to find the charges proven guilty based only on circumstantial facts," adding, "It appears to be an overreaching indictment."
At the sentencing hearing held in Dec. last year, prosecutors sought two years in prison and a fine of 50 million won for Yoon, and one year in prison, a fine of 20 million won, and a forfeiture of about 105.66 million won for Koo.