By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
A son-in-law of President Lee Myung-bak is under scrutiny for alleged stock price manipulation.
The Seoul Central Prosecutors' Office confirmed Tuesday it has investigated Cho Hyun-bum, 36, an executive vice president of Hankook Tire and son-in-law of President Lee, on stock price rigging charges. He is not being detained.
The move is in line with a series of recent investigations into the offspring of a number of family-controlled conglomerates.
Prosecutors are looking into whether Cho abused confidential information to artificially raise the stock price of companies he invested in or tried to participate in a seasoned equity offering.
``We have has not yet uncovered any illegal activity since a full investigation has still to get underway,'' a prosecutor said. ``But there are suspicious aspects that need to be thoroughly looked into.''
Cheong Wa Dae asked the prosecution to thoroughly investigate the case.
Prosecutors are paying keen attention to a case involving Kim Young-jib, chief manager of Codinus and grandson of Hankook Chinaware founder Kim Jong-ho.
When Codinus took over the Kosdaq-listed Mbiz Networks Global in August last year, many chaebol scions including Cho bought a large share and their involvement sent the stock price soaring.
At the time, Cho invested four billion won ($4 million), and now holds a 5.7 percent stake.
Cho is the second son of Hankook Tire chairman Cho Yang-rae and a nephew of the Hyosung Group and Federation of Korean Industries Chairman Cho Suck-rai.