Mr. Lee, who is accused of embezzling 221.5 billion won in public funds for Osstem Implant, left the Gangseo Police Station in Seoul on the morning of the 14th and is being sent to the prosecution. [사진 출처 = 연합뉴스]Mo Lee, the head of the finance team at Osstem Implant, who was arrested on charges of large-scale embezzlement, admitted to committing a solo crime and was sent to the prosecution. As the investigation revealed that the embezzlement money was used to invest in stocks, stocks known to have been traded by Mr. Lee also showed weakness.
According to the financial investment industry on the 15th, Lee poured most of the embezzlement money into stock trading. Last year, it invested in a total of 42 stocks and suffered a loss of 76 billion won. Lee repeatedly bought and sold stocks amounted to a total of 1.2 trillion won.
Among the stocks in which Lee has invested, Dongjin Semichem and NCsoft stand out the most. On the previous day, Dongjin Semichem finished trading at 4,650 won per share, down 500 won (1.22%) from the previous day. It has fallen by 20.29% this year. During this period, the market cap also evaporated more than 532.1 billion won from 2.62 trillion won to 2.8 trillion won.
In October of last year, Mr. Lee spent regarding 143 billion won and bought 3,917431 shares (7.62%) of Dongjin Semichem on the stock exchange. The purchase price was 36,492 won per share. Over the next two months, it sold 3.36 million shares (6.55%) at regarding 111.2 billion won, making a loss. Dongjin Semichem is an electronic material company that produces foaming agents. Although there is no connection with Osstem Implant, it was on a downtrend only because Mr. Lee was a major shareholder.
NCsoft is also paying attention. In November of last year, Mr. Lee net bought 492,392 shares (2.24%) of NCsoft. First, it bought 700,000 shares and sold 210,000 shares. Net purchases are estimated at 300 billion won. At the time, NCsoft achieved its upper limit as news of its entry into the non-fungible token (NFT) business and Mr. Lee’s buying momentum coincided, but it is estimated that Mr. Lee also lost tens of billions of won as the stock price went downhill.
However, in the case of NCsoft, it is analyzed that the disappointment caused by the earnings shock was greater than the followingmath of the embezzlement case. This is because brokerage firms lowered their target prices as operating profit in the fourth quarter of last year was expected to fall short of market expectations. On the previous day, NCsoft closed at 583,000 won, down 22,000 won (3.64%) from the battlefield.
Osstem Implant Chairman Kyu-ok Choi and Osstem Implant’s investment activities expand the scope of related stocks. Chairman Choi is a major shareholder of APS Holdings. It owns a total of 1,773,039 shares (8.69%). APS Holdings has been sluggish every day as it is observed that Chairman Choi will liquidate his stake to repay the loan.
Osstem Implant has also been actively investing in stocks. In the investment market, speculation is raised that it was led by Mr. Lee, saying that it started in earnest following Mr. Lee joined the company. Osstem Implant has traded stocks in Samsung Electronics, Samsung C&T, SK Hynix, SK Chemicals, SK Discovery, CS Wind, Hyosung Heavy Industries, Kumho Petroleum, Nyvek, and Telcon RF Pharmaceuticals. Probability shows that there are more stocks that have not made a profit.
Meanwhile, Lee was found to have embezzled 221.5 billion won from the company on several occasions. Of this, 33.5 billion won was returned, and the final amount of embezzlement was 188 billion won. Mr. Lee, who was in charge of funds at Osstem Implant, stated that he transferred public funds to his bank and securities accounts by forging the balance certificate.
The speed of Osstem Implant shareholders is burning. The Korea Exchange stopped the trading of Osstem Implant’s stock right following the New Year, saying that it would begin the deliberation of the listing eligibility substantive examination. As the company has a significant presence in the global implant market and is ranked in the top 25 by market capitalization of the KOSDAQ, I bought the stock considering its soundness and growth potential. However, experts do not expect that the delisting will not lead to the delisting of Lee as he claims that it was the only crime.
The financial authorities also started a detailed analysis of Mr. Lee’s stock trading history through the exchange. As the size of the transaction is large, there is a possibility that it may be involved in unfair trade such as price manipulation to help specific people. If there is a suspicion of unfair trade here, there is a high probability that the punishment will be aggravated by violating the Capital Market Act.
Seo Geun-hee, a researcher at Samsung Securities, said, “The size of embezzlement is large compared to equity capital, so the substantive examination will be decided depending on the possibility of recovering funds.”
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