EcoPro stocks fall as top court upholds founder's conviction

EcoPro founder Lee Dong-chae speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony of the company's cathode plant in Hungary in April. [ECOPRO]

The Supreme Court upheld the conviction of the founder of EcoPro Group, a battery material supplier, who is serving a two-year sentence in prison for violating the capital market act.

The latest ruling pushed down EcoPro companies’ stocks in the market on Friday.

Lee Dong-chae, the 64-year-old founder and former chairman of EcoPro, was sentenced for two years in prison and also charged 2.2 billion won ($1.6 million) in fines and 1.1 billion won in forfeitures by an appeals court on May 11, which was affirmed by the Supreme Court Friday.

Lee was first indicted in May last year for taking advantage of undisclosed information of the company between 2020 January through September 2021.

According to the court, the former chairman purchased shares of EcoPro BM using a borrowed-name bank account before the company issued electronic disclosures regarding new supply deals.

He sold them later to earn 1.1 billion won.

In October 2022, Seoul Southern District Court handed Lee a five-year suspended sentence and a 3.5-billion-won fine, a decision that was appealed by both the prosecutor and Lee.

An appeals court in May slapped Lee with an even harsher sentence of two years in jail, leading to Lee’s detention.

EcoPro's share price dropped 3.41 percent in the Kosdaq bourse on Friday to 1,076,000 won, while EcoPro BM dipped 1.89 percent to 312,000 won. EcoPro HN fell 6.71 percent to 91,700 won.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]