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Lee Bok-hyun, former governor of the Financial Supervisory Service (Photo = Yonhap News Agency) |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Shareholders of Kumyang have filed a criminal complaint against former Financial Supervisory Service chief Lee Bok-hyun, alleging abuse of power as the company faces ongoing delisting procedures.
According to the Kumyang Minority Shareholders Alliance, 1,053 investors submitted the complaint to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office on April 14. They argue that financial authorities unfairly delayed approval of Kumyang’s KRW 450 billion rights offering for four months, while allowing similar capital increases by peers such as Samsung SDI and POSCO Future M to proceed after review.
The shareholders claim the delay triggered a sharp stock price decline and forced Kumyang to withdraw the offering. The withdrawal led to penalty points, which, combined with prior penalties, resulted in trading suspension and potential delisting.
They further argued that holding Kumyang accountable for withdrawing the rights offering—while also imposing penalty points—was unfair and inconsistent with regulatory standards. The group attributes responsibility for the delay specifically to Lee rather than the broader regulatory body.
The shareholders also alleged prior tensions between Lee and Kumyang-related figures over short-selling policies, suggesting that subsequent regulatory actions—including a 2023 raid by financial authorities over alleged insider trading—may have been influenced by those disputes.
Additionally, they called for an investigation into whether Lee was involved in a separate raid by Busan Customs in April last year, which examined potential irregularities in Kumyang’s investment in a lithium mining project in Mongolia.
AlphaBIZ Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
