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Prosecutors have recently launched a full-scale investigation into a group accused of manipulating stock prices.
Suspected companies were searched and confiscated and two people were arrested.
People who are so-called big hands in the capital market have also been subject to the prosecution's investigation, and the prosecution suspects that the funds of former Chairman Kim Seong-tae were also used to manipulate stock prices.
Until the end, reporter Won Jong-jin of the Panda Team covered the story exclusively.
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In March 2020, when the World Health Organization declared a coronavirus pandemic, the world fell into great chaos.
The spread of infection has exploded the demand for diagnostic kits and therapeutics.
In August of that year, the affiliate company of Company A announced that it had obtained approval from the US Food and Drug Administration and FDA for the first corona sample collection kit in Korea.
After the announcement, the stock price of Company A, which owns the rights to this collection kit, jumped from 1,300 won to more than 9,000 won in 17 trading days.
The stock prices of other companies B and C also soared around the same time, using the development of corona diagnostic kits and clinical trials for treatment.
The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office's Securities Crimes Unit recently seized and searched these three companies and arrested two executives on charges of stock price manipulators intervening in the announcements and stock prices of these companies.
It is also known that some of the announcements contain information that has been inflated or manipulated.
Prosecutors saw Mr. Kim, who was directly or indirectly related to all three companies, such as participation in management and investment in funds, as the core of the suspicion, and also seized and searched Mr. Kim's house.
What the prosecutors are paying particular attention to is the relationship between Mr. Kim and former chairman Kim Seong-tae.
Mr. Kim, who is known as a 'player' in the capital market, has a history of being punished along with Chairman Kim on charges of manipulating the stock price of a company called Ubicom with money from former Chairman Kim Seong-tae in 2011.
Prosecutors are also paying attention to the fact that a company related to Mr. Kim, the target of this search and seizure, has been dealing with Omokdae Holdings, where the wife of former chairman Kim Seong-tae is a major shareholder.
During the prosecution's investigation, it is known that Mr. Kim stated his position, "I only invested in Company A, and never manipulated the stock prices of Company B and Company C."
It is also said that he denied any connection with former chairman Kim Seong-tae.
He tried to contact Mr. Kim several times to get an explanation, but he did not respond.
In addition to the market manipulators and the company's management, the prosecution's investigation is aimed at the so-called 'Yeouido Big Hands' who have made a lot of money behind them.
(Video coverage: Ha Ryung, Video editing: Kim Kyung-yeon, VJ: Kim Jun-ho)