CNBLUE’s Yonghwa has been acquitted of insider trading charges. It
was earlier reported that the vocalist bought KRW400 million
(S$4.67million) of FNC Entertainment stocks after finding out that
A-lister Yoo Jae Suk would be joining their company.
Investigations
revealed that the stocks were purchased before discussions for the
variety host began, and that he was unaware that his label was intending
to sign Yoo Jae Suk on. In addition, it was further revealed that it
was Yonghwa’s mother who had purchased the stocks without his knowledge,
and that the only part he played was that he sold some of the stocks
after news of the star joining FNC broke.
However, his fellow bandmate Jonghyun was fined KRW20 million (S$23,400)
for insider trading. He is said to have heard that a famous celebrity
would be joining FNC on July 15, but did not check if the news had been
reported before he purchased the company’s stocks. The news was only
made public on July 16. Jonghyun reported to have later realised that
his actions might be illegal and did not sell the stocks he had on hand.