The stock price manipulation gang of Fortis, a listed company on NASDAQ, has been arrested by prosecutors.

Prosecutors allege that a group artificially manipulated the share price of Fortis, a company listed on Kosdaq, in order to obtain huge improper gains, and that before the investigation began, they transferred the so-called “puppet representative” overseas for trial on a large scale.

On the 15th, the Financial Investigation Division 2 of the Southern District Prosecutors’ Office in Seoul said it indicted five people including A on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act and instigating suspects to flee, without detention. B, who took part in the crime, was also separately transferred for trial. According to prosecutors, B is suspected of directly providing airline tickets and other assistance to co-conspirators serving as the “puppet representative” during the process of their escape. Violating the Capital Markets Act is considered a typical financial crime—artificially manipulating the share price so that it is unrelated to actual supply and demand or a company’s value, thereby interfering with investors’ judgment.

Based on the investigation results, from August to November 2018, A and others mobilized more than 100 nominee accounts and manipulated the market price of Fortis through concentrated buying and selling of Fortis shares. Nominee accounts refer to accounts opened in other people’s names, which are often used to conceal the true trading party and to prevent investigators from tracking the transactions. It was found that the improper gains they obtained from the first market manipulation amounted to about 4 billion won. After that, from November 2018 to February 2019, they manipulated the share price of the same stock again, but it is reported that the share price fell at that time, and in the end they suffered losses.

In this case, the key focus for prosecutors is the criminal structure and the method of escape. The investigation showed that they introduced “puppet representative” C, who would take on the risk of criminal punishment on their behalf, and they conspired in advance that if C was punished, he would be compensated 100 million to 200 million won per year of imprisonment. Afterwards, they concentrated trading centered on C’s name-based account, focusing all traces of the crime there, and in the second half of 2019—immediately the day after the financial authorities launched an investigation—they sent C to Vietnam and provided funds to enable him to stay. The so-called “puppet representative” refers to a person who has no actual decision-making power, but who assumes legal responsibility in name only.

C actually lived in hiding overseas for as long as 6 years, but was ultimately arrested under Interpol’s red notice, and in 2025 was transferred for trial while in detention. Prosecutors then expanded the investigation, additionally confirming the identity of A, who transferred C overseas and led the share-price manipulation, as well as the identities of the five main perpetrators behind the scenes, and arrested them. Fortis was listed on the Kosdaq market in January 2013, but after this incident it was ultimately delisted on January 3, 2024. When a listed company becomes involved in a share-price manipulation case, it can lead to a collapse of corporate reputation and an expansion of losses for ordinary investors. This case is viewed as a typical example once again demonstrating the aftereffects that unfair trading brings to the entire capital market. In the future, this trend is very likely to lead prosecutors and financial authorities to more intensely scrutinize methods such as using nominee accounts, false transactions, and nominal persons mobilized to transfer responsibility.