Ostem Implant, Korea's largest implant producer, sued its employee for business embezzlement. An employee of the finance department reportedly embezzled 188 billion won of company funds to trade stocks and has gone into hiding.
This is an unprecedented embezzlement incident that occurred in a Kosdaq-listed blue-chip company, and there are 20,000 shareholders owning Ostem Implant stocks as of the third quarter of last year, expecting to have a huge impact.
According to the financial services industry on the 3rd, Ostem Implant announced that it filed a complaint against its employee for embezzlement of 1.88 billion won with the Gangseo Police Station in Seoul. The embezzled amount reaches 91.81 per cent of the company's equity capital, the largest ever as a listed company.
Ostem Implant's employee Lee reportedly forged a balance certificate and transferred company funds to his personal bank account and stock account to embezzle it. According to Ostem Implant, it is not an organized crime, but it is suspected that he committed the crime alone using his special position as a fund manager.
An official from Ostem Implant said, "This is very shocking and hard to believe that an employee embezzled almost 190 billion won in funds of the company with a market capitalization of 2 trillion won. There was no problem with the operating control system, but it was found that he committed a crime by manually adjusting the balance certificates. The company is planning to suspend his all accounts as soon as possible the warrant is issued today and will recover most of the embezzlement."
The Korea Exchange has immediately suspended stock trading of Ostem implant. If an employee of a listed company embezzles more than 5 per cent of the equity capital, the company must undergo a listing eligibility examination. The Korea Exchange will make a final decision by reviewing whether it should have a listing eligibility examination or not within 15 trading days from the date of the incident.
Lee reportedly used embezzled money for stock trading. Money Today reported that Lee, who embezzled 188 billion won in company funds, is a 'Super Investor' who purchased a 7.62 per cent stake in Dongjin Semichem (about 143 billion won) on October 1st last year. (ANI/Global Economic)
( With inputs from ANI )
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