ID :
20220
Fri, 09/19/2008 - 20:26
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/20220
The shortlink copeid
Opposition lawmaker gets jail term for share rigging
SEOUL, Sept. 19 (Yonhap) -- A court handed down on Friday a three-year jail sentence to main opposition party lawmaker Jeong Kuk-kyo on charges of stock manipulation, a ruling that could strip him of his assembly seat.
The Seoul Central District Court convicted the first-term lawmaker on all charges, which also include failure to report assets earned from the share rigging scheme following his election in April.
Jeong was fined 25 billion won (US$22 million) for stock manipulation and 10 million won for asset omissions.
Prosecutors had sought a 10-year prison sentence and an 87.4 billion won fine.
If upheld in an appeals court, the ruling will deprive Jeong of his assembly seat, driving down the number of Democratic Party-held seats to 82 in the 299-member assembly, currently controlled by the ruling Grand National Party.
The court said Jeong, who was chief executive of Human & Technology Co. before being elected, rigged the firm's share prices last year by promoting an energy project in Uzbekistan to reap 40 billion won (US$35 million) in illegal proceeds.
"Mr. Jeong claims that he intended to and was capable of carrying out the project and that it was not a false rumor, but he belied or exaggerated the truth about the economic value of the Uzbek project, which was not yet confirmed at that time," Judge Lee Gwang-man said in the verdict.
Share prices of H&T skyrocketed by more than 2,000 percent after Jeong announced in an official release and media interviews that the firm was pursuing lucrative solar energy development in an agreement with Uzbekistan. The firm had in fact only signed a memorandum of understanding to develop silicon as the source of the solar energy.
H&T's share prices, which traded at 3,880 won on Feb. 27, 2007, rose to 89,700 won in October when Jeong sold his shares. The non-binding agreement with the Uzbek government was subsequently dropped, driving the share price down to near 3,000 won.
The court also noted that Jeong may not have been awarded the assembly seat had he reported his murky share proceeds before the elections, finding him guilty of violating civil servant election laws.
Jeong took the lawmaker seat as a proportional representative of the opposition party.
Besides the criminal suit, Jeong faces a civil suit by a group of 970 small investors demanding 45 billion won in compensation.
The Seoul Central District Court convicted the first-term lawmaker on all charges, which also include failure to report assets earned from the share rigging scheme following his election in April.
Jeong was fined 25 billion won (US$22 million) for stock manipulation and 10 million won for asset omissions.
Prosecutors had sought a 10-year prison sentence and an 87.4 billion won fine.
If upheld in an appeals court, the ruling will deprive Jeong of his assembly seat, driving down the number of Democratic Party-held seats to 82 in the 299-member assembly, currently controlled by the ruling Grand National Party.
The court said Jeong, who was chief executive of Human & Technology Co. before being elected, rigged the firm's share prices last year by promoting an energy project in Uzbekistan to reap 40 billion won (US$35 million) in illegal proceeds.
"Mr. Jeong claims that he intended to and was capable of carrying out the project and that it was not a false rumor, but he belied or exaggerated the truth about the economic value of the Uzbek project, which was not yet confirmed at that time," Judge Lee Gwang-man said in the verdict.
Share prices of H&T skyrocketed by more than 2,000 percent after Jeong announced in an official release and media interviews that the firm was pursuing lucrative solar energy development in an agreement with Uzbekistan. The firm had in fact only signed a memorandum of understanding to develop silicon as the source of the solar energy.
H&T's share prices, which traded at 3,880 won on Feb. 27, 2007, rose to 89,700 won in October when Jeong sold his shares. The non-binding agreement with the Uzbek government was subsequently dropped, driving the share price down to near 3,000 won.
The court also noted that Jeong may not have been awarded the assembly seat had he reported his murky share proceeds before the elections, finding him guilty of violating civil servant election laws.
Jeong took the lawmaker seat as a proportional representative of the opposition party.
Besides the criminal suit, Jeong faces a civil suit by a group of 970 small investors demanding 45 billion won in compensation.
