Group caught inflating stocks up to 300 times value

[Anchor]

A group that inflated unlisted stocks to a maximum of 300 times their face value using false listing information has been caught by the police.

The confirmed amount of damage has exceeded 5 billion won, but the company representative has filed a lawsuit against a victim who posted a warning about the fraud online.

Baek Ji-hyun reports.

[Report]

This is the office of a software development company.

The door is tightly closed, and only a notice about finding a new tenant is posted.

[Nearby company employee/voice altered: "(I know that the company) moved out in July already."]

The representative of this company, Mr. A, is suspected of selling his company's unlisted stocks at 300 times their face value since September of last year.

An illegal telemarketing sales team was mobilized for the stock sales.

The sales team encouraged investments in stock chat rooms, claiming that "the stocks will be listed soon and can yield up to 300% profit."

In this way, they swindled a total of 5.5 billion won from 286 victims.

Five sales organizations operated only in the metropolitan area, including Gangnam in Seoul and Incheon.

One victim was approached with an offer to help with a personal lawsuit and ended up purchasing stocks worth over 500 million won.

[Victim/voice altered: "(That money) was my wedding fund. It broke off due to this fraud, and the house I won in the housing lottery was taken away. I fought with my family and left home."]

When this victim realized it was a scam and posted online to prevent further damage, representative Mr. A filed a defamation lawsuit against this victim.

[Shin Jae-ho/Team leader of the Seoul Police Criminal Mobile Unit: "The corporate representative actively participated in depositing the actual stocks into accounts, which resulted in greater damage to the victims."]

The police have arrested and transferred Mr. A and broker Mr. B, among others, to the prosecution.

The police seized 350 million won in criminal proceeds and preserved it for confiscation before prosecution, and last month handed over 46 suspects to the prosecution.

KBS News, Baek Ji-hyun.