Prosecutors have placed Oh Deok-gyun, head of CNK International, on Interpol’s wanted list to get him back to Korea from Cameroon for questioning on the company’s stock rigging scandal, officials said.

Despite the prosecution’s repeated requests to return home, Oh is still believed to be staying in Cameroon.

He is under suspicion of intentionally leading the Foreign Ministry to publish an exaggerated press release about a diamond mine’s reserves for which the company won the mining rights. He is also suspected of raking in about 80 billion won ($71 million) in illicit profits after disposing of part of his stake in the company after its stock surge on the back of the press release.

Oh left for Cameroon just before the financial regulator’s announcement of the investigation into the allegations last month.

Prosecutors have already nullified Oh’s passport via the Foreign Ministry so that they can arrest Oh once he is deported by the Cameroon government. They also have issued an arrest warrant for him.

By Kim Yoon-mi (yoonmi@heraldcorp.com)