Samsung office in Korea raided over insider trading allegations

Samsung Electronics' office in South Korea was reportedly raided by prosecutors yesterday over allegations of insider trading by employees of a robotics firm that Samsung acquired last year.

Samsung acquired Rainbow Robotics in 2025, and it is being alleged that employees of that robotics firm used insider information related to the upcoming acquisition to gain unfair profits, which is a violation of South Korea's Captial Markets Act. A search-and-seizure operation was carrierd about by the investigators from the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office to gather related information.

The financial authorities have reportedly named 16 people in this case, and it includes the head of Rainbow Robotics and the chief financial officer (CFO) of the company. They are suspected of unfairly gaining around KRW 3 to 4 billion (~$1.9 to 2.6 million) using insider information between 2022 and 2024.

Currently, Rainbow Robotics is a subsidiary firm of Samsung Electronics. It makes a wide range of robots, including the collaborative ones used in manufacturing industries and the ones that help can be used for barista and cocktail-making. It also makes humanoid robots and four-legged robots (robo dogs) for defense and industrial patrol.