Seoul: A special counsel team announced plans to summon former and incumbent executives of Sambu Construction Co. as part of an expanded investigation into stock price manipulation allegations. These allegations involve the mid-sized builder and former first lady Kim Keon Hee.According to Yonhap News Agency, the investigation is led by special counsel Min Joong-ki. During a regular press briefing, the team revealed that a Sambu Construction employee was questioned as a witness on Sunday. Additionally, an executive from the Eurasian Business Association was being questioned earlier on Monday.The Eurasian Business Association, a nonprofit organization, provides consultations to corporations looking to enter the Eurasian market. It had signed a memorandum of understanding with Sambu Construction in June 2022 related to reconstruction projects in Ukraine, which caused the builder's shares to surge.The crux of the Sambu case revolves around allegations from May to June 2023. It is suggested that around a doz en former and current owners and executives of the company misled investors into believing that they were initiating overseas reconstruction projects in Ukraine. This was allegedly done to inflate the company's share price before these individuals sold their shares to secure profits amounting to tens of billions of won.The special counsel plans to summon a former head of Sambu Construction for questioning on Wednesday. This will be followed by questioning the company's biggest shareholder on Thursday. However, the special counsel team has not scheduled a summons for Lee Jong-ho, the former head of Black Pearl Invest, who has been convicted in a separate stock price manipulation case tied to the former first lady.Authorities anticipate verifying the details of the case with key figures from Sambu Construction before potentially bringing in Lee Jong-ho for questioning.
- September 15, 2026
