The South Korean National Tax Service (NTS) has announced the recovery of 257.6 billion won in unpaid taxes linked to unfair tax evasion practices in the stock market. This follows an extensive investigation conducted between July last year and February this year, which uncovered a total of 6.155 trillion won in undeclared income among 27 companies and around 200 individuals. The investigations revealed significant misconduct including stock price manipulation through false disclosures, embezzlement by specialized corporate raiders, and misappropriation of profits by controlling shareholders of publicly listed companies.

One notable case highlighted involved a corporation that falsely claimed to be entering the eco-friendly energy sector and subsequently established numerous shell companies to siphon off investment funds amounting to 1.8 billion won for personal expenses of executives. The company's stock plummeted due to the resultant market manipulation, causing severe financial losses for minority shareholders. The NTS is pursuing investigations into these practices, collecting additional taxes amounting to 1.6 billion won and filing criminal charges against the individuals involved for tax law violations.

The NTS's findings have also revealed other types of misconduct, including a scheme in which an individual transferred control of a private company to family members at a reduced price using hidden stock transactions, which resulted in tax liabilities of 90 million won. The agency stated its commitment to continuing efforts countering tax evasion that disrupts the integrity of the stock market, targeting fraudulent disclosures, misuse of insider information, and improper internal transactions that allow individuals to illegally profit at the expense of the market and other investors.