Prosecutors probing Samsung Securities’ mistaken payment of dividends have requested arrest warrants for four employees of the securities firm.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office said it issued the request on Monday. Prosecutors are seeking the warrants on charges of breaching duty, committing fraud and making illicit stock transactions in violation of the capital market act.  
 
The prosecutorial investigation was launched after the Financial Supervisory Service reported 21 Samsung Securities employees to the prosecution on charges of breaches of duty and embezzlement on May 16th.

Samsung Securities mistakenly paid out two-point-eight billion shares to its employees as stock dividends on April sixth under an employee stock ownership plan. 

The company had originally planned to pay dividends of one-thousand won per share to employees. Instead, dividends of one-thousand shares were mistakenly paid out after a worker processed the wrong figure. The situation worsened when five million shares were sold by some employees before the error was fixed.

Arrest warrant deliberations for the four employees will be held on Wednesday morning.