Appellate court reduces prison term of ex-company head in massive stock manipulation case by 17 yrs

Ra Deok-yeon, the head of an unregistered investment consulting firm, appears at the Seoul Southern District Court ahead of an arrest warrant hearing, May 11, 2023. Yonhap

An appellate court on Tuesday sentenced the former head of an investment consulting firm to eight years in prison for his role in a massive stock manipulation scheme, reducing the term by 17 years.

Ra Deok-yeon had been sentenced at the first trial to a 25-year prison term for jointly pocketing some 730 billion won ($495 million) with his accomplices through the scheme that rocked local financial markets in 2023.

The Seoul High Court overturned the initial ruling, however, after recognizing that some of the stock manipulation had been carried out through accounts that were not entrusted to Ra's firm.

In addition to the prison sentence, the court ordered Ra to pay a fine of 146.5 billion won and a forfeit of 181.5 billion won.

Ra and the accomplices were charged with making the illicit profits between May 2019 and April 2023 by selling off the stocks of eight listed companies after raising their prices through fixing.

The profits made it the largest stock manipulation case to date.

Ra and his aides were also charged with defrauding investors of 194.4 billion won by charging a commission for their investments without registering the firm with the financial authorities, and concealing the money in a borrowed-name account.

The appellate court, however, partially acquitted Ra of the concealment charge.

Ra was placed under custody again after having been released on bail in July.