Tracking down Shareholders of Yoon`s Venture with Fictitious Names

The third special division (head prosecutor Cha Dong-Min) of the Seoul District Prosecution decided yesterday to summon shareholders of `Pass 21` in which Yoon is the major shareholder, including the former lawmaker Kim Hyun-Kyoo, a government official, a president of economy newspaper Mr. Kim, a news reporter of an economy newspaper, and a SBS producer, next week. The third special division is investigating the politically involved stock lobby of Yoon Tae-Shik who was arrested for the `Suzy Kim`s murder case`.

The prosecution concentrated on tracking the real owners among the shareholders of `Pass 21`, who have used fictitious name.

The prosecution is tracking the real shareholders by obtaining the list of the shareholders that was not known to the public from the company, apart from the official list of the shareholders, which was obtained from the Korea Securities Depository.

Considering that the former shareholders might have gained great profit by selling stocks when the stock market prospered, the prosecution is also investigating the circumstance in which shares were transferred and purchased.

An official of the prosecution said, "80 out of 307 shareholders, which is more than 20 percent of the total number of shareholders, were women as of the end of last year. The prosecution is investigating whether they are real shareholders or proxies."

Along with this, the prosecution verified the fact that Yoon asked for authorization of venture technology as well as support to the high ranking officials and the former Minister of Information and Communication through the auditor Kim from late 1998 through early 1999.

Meanwhile, Mr. Kim, the president of an economy newspaper, explained that " we received shares for helping the earlier business of `Pass 21` when my wife was involved in a venture supporting business. We sold some of the shares and have nothing to do with lobby in the political circle."

Seung-Ryun Kim srkim@donga.com