Broadcasting Company Employee Profits 830 Million Won by Buying Shares After Hearing About "Netflix Contract"

Using Undisclosed Information with Family Involved
Stock Price Soared Immediately After OTT Supply Contract Disclosure

An employee of a terrestrial broadcasting company has been indicted for earning hundreds of millions of won in stock trading profits by using prior knowledge of contract information with an online video service (OTT) company. It was found that the employee also shared the undisclosed information with his father, enabling him to make tens of millions of won in profits.

On June 18, the Financial Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (headed by Chief Prosecutor Kim Taegyeom) announced that it had indicted A, a disclosure officer at the broadcasting company, without detention on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act.

Diagram of the wrongdoing in which A, an employee in charge of disclosures at a terrestrial broadcasting company, purchased stocks using undisclosed material information and shared that information with his father to jointly earn a price difference profit. Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office

According to prosecutors, in the second half of 2024, A learned through his work about a content supply contract between the broadcasting company and a global OTT company, and then purchased approximately 95,000 shares of the broadcasting company in advance, earning an illicit profit of about 830 million won. He has been brought to trial on these charges.

Investigations revealed that A continuously checked the progress of negotiations and traded stocks accordingly. In the past, whenever negotiations with OTT companies other than Netflix were underway, he would actively buy stocks, then quickly sell them when negotiations broke down, and repurchase them once negotiations resumed.

A used not only his own account but also a securities account under his mother's name and a contract for difference (CFD) account to increase the scale of his transactions. The content supply contract was disclosed on December 20, 2024. After the disclosure, the broadcasting company's share price hit the upper limit for two consecutive trading days, and A sold off a large amount of his holdings to realize his profits. During this process, A also provided the undisclosed information to his father, B. B was found to have bought the broadcasting company’s shares in advance and sold them all immediately after the disclosure, earning an illicit profit of 19.7 million won.

The prosecution identified the full scope of the crime through securing related materials, conducting raids and seizures, and digital forensics immediately after a report by the Financial Services Commission. They also worked with the Criminal Proceeds Recovery Division to completely preserve the forfeiture of all criminal proceeds. On June 10, the Financial Services Commission imposed fines of about 1.04 billion won on A and 39.4 million won on B, respectively.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.