April 27, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Prosecutors have filed for arrest warrants for four officials at Samsung Securities for knowingly selling bogus shares that were issued to them by the firm by mistake, a prosecution officer said on June 19.

The four officials face charges of fraudulent trading, committing fraud using digital devices and embezzlement in violation of the Capital Market Act, the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office said.

They will be arraigned for a review of their writs at a district court on June 20.

Prosecutors are investigating the stock blunder that happened on April 6, in which an official at the brokerage house by mistake typed in 1,000 shares instead of 1,000 won per share for dividends that were to be paid to employees under a company compensation plan. As a result it issued 2.8 billion shares that only existed on paper, worth over 110 trillion won (US$100 billion). But some of the workers who received the stocks quickly sold them in the market.

Prosecutors raided the head office of the brokerage house late last month.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)