Kim Keon-hee's special investigation team announced on the 3rd that they are conducting a search and seizure at SAMBU Construction, which has been implicated in stock manipulation allegations.
The special investigation team said in a notice sent to the press that they have initiated search and seizure operations against companies and suspects, including SAMBU Construction. Just a day after the team was launched during a plaque ceremony, it began a forced investigation. This is the first search and seizure operation conducted by a special investigation team since the current government took office.
The allegations of stock manipulation involving SAMBU Construction center around the claim that officials from the company inflated stock prices by falsely indicating that they had initiated a reconstruction project in Ukraine between May and June 2023, and then profited hundreds of millions of won by selling their shares.
The Democratic Party of Korea raised suspicions that Lee Jong-ho, former head of Black Pearl Investment, who was identified as the account manager for the spouse of former President Kim, was also involved in this case. After Lee sent a message stating 'Check SAMBU tomorrow' in a group chat, the transaction volume for SAMBU Construction surged, and its stock price skyrocketed.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) investigated this case for about seven months starting in September last year. Based on this, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) reported officials from SAMBU Construction to the prosecution. However, the spouse of former President Kim and Lee were not included in the report. The Southern District Prosecutors' Office in Seoul was jointly investigating this case with the FSS.