Ssangboll Castle ① Illegal loan sharks entered the group president [Report file]

In the case of the Samsung Securities ghost stock crisis in 2018, employees who received 1,000 shares instead of KRW 1,000 were faced with a choice.

Should you sell or return the stock?

Those who sold the stock were fired and at the same time subjected to criminal punishment.

In the future, it will be difficult to work in the same industry.

The courts and unspecified general investors accused them of being 'blinded by greed, betraying professional ethics and undermining trust in the capital market'.

So, what would happen if the chairman made illegal profits by manipulating stock prices with his own stock?

They have a wider range of responsibilities than employees, and they have thicker positions, their criminal patterns are more deliberate and the damage to the capital market is greater.

Even if you don't know the law, you can intuitively know which crime is more serious, but common sense and reality are different.

On the contrary, the chairman in question was able to consolidate economic power and own the group.

This is the story of former Chairman SsangBulle, Kim Seong-Tae.

This is the reason why the Panda team paid attention to Kim Seong-tae until the end.

Illegal lending company Tokyo Asset...

Gangnam loan shark Kim Seong-tae

Kim Sung-tae's name first appeared on the stock market on March 6, 2015.

Ssang-Bulle's public announcement that he took office as 'non-registered executive chairman' with 750,000 shares (0.85%) in the form of warrants is the beginning.

With a 0.85% stake, it is impossible to dominate Ssangdrop.

Above all, without knowing who Kim Seong-tae was, he suddenly popped out and reached the 'double-bell peak'.

Leaving behind various rumors surrounding Kim Seong-tae, such as 'a former gangster in Jeonju, illegal arcade operation, and big hands in the Gangnam private bond market', his traces that reporters confirmed through official documents date back to 2007.

It's from 'Tokyo Asset' located in Gangnam, Seoul.

The business purpose of the corporation registration was investment consulting, and the establishment was reported in 2008, but the actual business started at least a year ago in 2007.

The reality of the business was an unregistered private loan business, or, simply put, an illegal loan company.

'Gangnam loan shark Kim Seong-tae' was a fact, not a rumor.

Although it is not possible to accurately estimate Tokyo Asset's ability to mobilize funds, the accumulated amount of illegal loans confirmed over the past five years from 2007 alone amounted to 31.87 billion won.

Among the borrowers who borrowed money, KH Group Chairman Bae Sang-yoon (the operator of Gangnam sauna at the time of the loan), Pan-LG, a 3-year-old family, and a representative of a promising KOSDAQ listed company are among the borrowers.

The peculiarity is that the period of illegal loans from Tokyo Asset overlaps with the period of financial crimes of some debtors.

This is why there is a high probability that Tokyo Asset funds flowed into financial crimes.

There are various reasons why influential people had their hands on Kori’s illegal loan companies rather than institutional finance, but it seems clear that Kim Seong-tae had a unique position in the Gangnam private loan business.

'Ssangbool Acquisition' Transforms into a legal businessman?

From an illegal loan business to a stock price manipulator

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Kim Seong-tae has been completely behind the scenes since running Tokyo Asset.

Although he is the real owner, he adhered to the so-called 'pants boss' management style with an agent.

Tokyo Asset's shares are held under the name of another person, and the company's CEO is also a driver.

<Tokyo Asset Equity Structure> → Effective Owner: Kim Seong-tae

40% stake: Kim Seong-tae’s driver, Park Mo’s

stake 30%: Employee Oh’s

stake 30%: Choi’s

Kim Seong-tae, who was called money through the private loan business, started to change in 2010.

From October 14, 2009 to January 26 of the following year, the company name was changed to 'Tokyo Asset → Tigris → Pacific Trading'.

Three days later, on January 29, a contract was signed to acquire SsangBulle shares and management rights from Taihan Electric Wire.

An illegal loan company took over a listed company after changing its name through a 'brand change' method.

Is it the intention of the private debt collector who jumped into the securities market to transform into 'from the shadows to the light, legal entrepreneurs' by breaking with the illegal past?

I don't know what's inside, but what is clear is that it was the beginning of another crime.

Not to mention that Pacific Trading (formerly Tokyo Asset/later changed to 'Red Tigris') still made illegal loans until 2012, two years after the acquisition of Ssangbangbang, Kim Seongtae was manipulating the stock price right before the acquisition of Ssangbool.

Using accounts in the names of employees, family members and relatives, the company once again increased its fortune using Ssangdrop stocks in the classic price adjustment method such as buying at a high price, buying at a high price, and buying out of stock.

In August 2011, about a year after entering the securities market, he reached out to the KOSDAQ market.

This is a case of manipulation of the stock price of Ubicom, a listed company on the KOSDAQ.

Kim Seong-tae provided funds to acquire Ubicom to Mr. Kim, who is known as a player in the world of stock manipulation, and instead took Ubicom stock as collateral.

The market price was adjusted to sell the stocks received at low prices at high prices, and the profit was shared by Kim Seong-tae.

It was a typical financial crime for the purpose of capital gains, not for the purpose of acquiring and managing an actual company.

Kim Seong-tae, who had established a position in the KOSPI and KOSDAQ, faced a crisis three years later in April 2013 when the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office was launched.

'Double-drop stock price manipulation (including the Ubicom case)' became the first public awareness incident after the establishment of the Hap Sudan.

Prosecutors found that the actual owner of Tokyo Asset was Kim Seong-tae through money tracking, and confirmed that Kim Seong-tae was at the top of the stock price manipulation crime.

When the investigation reached his chin, Kim Seong-tae fled, and the prosecution first charged Kim Seong-tae's younger brother and others.

Kim Seong-tae tried to escape by hiding behind himself at this time, too, and using his agent.

His younger brother, who was also a director of management, even tried to silence the person concerned to testify in court to prevent his older brother's identity from being revealed.

from a gangster?

"I need a lot of memory for numbers… I made the company run rough."

At that time, the prosecution conducted an all-round investigation against those involved in order to find out the reality of 'Kim Seong-tae'.

Many of the people involved said that Kim Seong-tae was the "beneficiary of Tokyo Asset" and said, "I made money by moving to Tokyo while working as a gangster in Jeonju, and there are many gangsters around me."

This is when the rumor that 'Kim Seong-tae, a former gangster' came out.

Several people I met during the coverage process said, "The company was run rough like a gangster", "They are quick at counting and calculating, and they have an extraordinary memory of numbers", "He had influence from the beginning in the Gangnam floor, and if he borrowed money from Kim Seong-tae, he could not pay it back. No,” he told the story.

At that time, the investigation team also said that they confirmed the 'Kim Seong-tae's genealogy' based on these statements, that is, what kind of organization he came from.

When investigating agencies check whether they are a gangster, they use the 'list of gangsters to be managed' owned by the police and prosecutors.

There are two main cases of being included in the list of management targets.

In other words, if you are charged with a gangster.

It refers to the history of being charged with the 'Crime of Organizational Organization in Article 4 of the Punishment of Violence Act'.

Another method is to organize and register the persons identified during the investigation of organized gangsters, even if they were not subject to prosecution.

In 2013, the Hap Sudan checked all the lists of subjects under the control of the prosecution and police, but Kim Seong-tae's name was not included in the list.

It is known that there is no real organization activity, but there is no grasp, or there is no organization life, either.

Super luxurious lawyer Dae-dong Kim Seong-tae...

Court applying 'chaebol formula 3-5 rule'

Kim Seong-tae was arrested and indicted in April 2014, about a year after he fled, and was put on trial.

Although there were 31 lawyers with names such as former high court judges, prosecutors, and large law firms, it is generally accepted that there are only unfavorable sentencing factors, such as 'fleeing defendants, main culprits of stock price manipulation, and enormous undue profits', but no favorable sentencing factors. It was sight.

However, the result of the first trial, which lasted for three years, was '3 years in prison - 5 years of probation'.

The '3-5 rule' of 'chaebol reconnaissance system ruling, chaebol formula' was applied to Kim Seong-tae as well.

The reason for the sentencing of the first instance court was as follows.

The expression 'contributing to economic development', the cliché of the chaebol's probation sentence, was only changed to 'Ssangbell's stable operation', but the power of this short phrase is It was still strong.

All adverse sentencing factors such as ▶denial of crime ▶ history of flight ▶ multiple victims ▶ criminal proceeds ▶ seriousness of disturbance in the capital market were offset.

It is for this reason that the court has been criticized for positioning the 'share price manipulator from Gangnam loan shark' as a 'chaebol level'.

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Legal risk resolved with 15 million won...

Kim Seong-tae who became economic power

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Prosecutors demanded additional penalties for Kim Seong-tae and his party, claiming that they had obtained 34.7 billion won worth of unfair profits by manipulating stock prices, but the court did not accept it.

At that time, the court did not issue a penalty charge, saying, "The calculation data to calculate the exact amount of the additional charge was not submitted as evidence," even though the profit obtained seemed to be a large amount.

In conclusion, Kim Seong-tae was able to avoid imprisonment and fines as the judgment of the first trial was finalized by the Supreme Court after an appeal.

The law 'when in doubt, in the interests of the accused' is a great principle in criminal trials, but it is necessary to think about whether it is a principle that applies only to those who have economic power and strong defense.

In addition to the stock price manipulation case, 'Kim Seong-tae's case of violating the Loan Business Act' was also sentenced on January 11, 2017, one month before the first trial sentence for stock manipulation.

The result was a fine of 15 million won, and the case was confirmed in the first trial because neither the prosecution nor Kim Seong-tae appealed.

What is the price that Seongtae Kim paid for a series of criminal acts that called black money with Tokyo Asset, an illegal loan company, took over Ssangbull with this company, manipulated stock prices, and went back to the KOSDAQ market to adjust the market price?

At the time of the first trial, the only payment of a fine of 15 million won is all except for one year of imprisonment.

Regarding this, an official from the prosecution said, "The criminal justice system acted as a washing machine."

It is said that the judicial system contributed to the rebirth of the group chairman of illegal loan sharks.

As a result, Kim Sung-tae, who has resolved his judicial risk, has completed the Ssangbull Group with 7 companies.

He has come to have stronger economic power, and is currently being implicated in the case of embezzlement and breach of trust by the Ssangbangbang Group, suspicion of remittance to North Korea, bribery of politicians, and allegations of non-payment of lawyers from the opposition parties.