Former Well Biotec CEO Gu Se-hyeon, who was sent to trial without detention on charges of taking part in stock manipulation of Well Biotec, an affiliate of Sambu Engineering & Construction, will face the first trial while not in custody.
According to legal sources on the 29th, the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Agreement Division 32 (Presiding Judge Ryu Kyung-jin, senior judge) the previous day granted bail for former CEO Gu, who was indicted on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (breach of trust) and the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act.
The specific reasons and conditions for bail were not disclosed. Bail is a procedure to release a detained defendant with conditions such as payment of a bond, residence restrictions, prohibition of evidence destruction, and limits on contact with people related to the case.
Around May 2023, former CEO Gu was indicted and detained in November last year on charges of taking part in price rigging to drive up the share price by deceiving investors into thinking that Well Biotec would take part in Ukraine's reconstruction project.
Suspicion of Well Biotec price rigging has been referred to as a "look-alike of Sambu Engineering & Construction" because the method resembled the Sambu Engineering & Construction stock manipulation case that surfaced around the same time. The shared point in the two cases is that they reportedly used expectations of participating in Ukraine's reconstruction project as material to buoy the stock price.
The special counsel team on Kim Keon-hee initially examined whether first lady Kim Keon-hee was involved in the two companies' stock manipulation cases but did not find a clear link to her. However, it detected stock manipulation allegations involving many former and current executives at Sambu Engineering & Construction and sent them to trial.