Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office Requests Additional Lime Investigation Prosecutors... Ministry of Justice Rejects

Ministry of Justice: "Issue to be Decided After Observing the Situation Further"

Victims of Lime Asset Management funds held a press conference on the 21st in front of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, urging the prosecution to conduct a prompt investigation. The victims filed a complaint with the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office against the head of Daishin Securities Banpo WM Center on charges including fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and fraudulent trading under the Capital Markets Act. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporters Byungdon Yoo, Seungyoon Song] It has been confirmed that the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office, which is investigating the Lime Asset Management fund redemption suspension case, requested the Ministry of Justice to dispatch additional prosecutors, but the Ministry of Justice did not accept the request.

According to the prosecution and the Ministry of Justice on the 13th, the Criminal Division 6 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Sangwon Jo), which is investigating this case, recently requested the Supreme Prosecutors' Office to send two additional prosecutors. This was based on the judgment that reinforcement of investigation personnel was necessary due to the investment loss scale exceeding 1 trillion won and the nature of the case involving numerous victims.

According to the Prosecution Work Regulations, when dispatching prosecutors for more than one month, prior approval from the Minister of Justice must be obtained. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office conveyed this request to the Ministry of Justice, but it was not accepted. Since the Lime fund redemption suspension case is still in the early stages of investigation, a review is needed, effectively rejecting the dispatch request.

A Ministry of Justice official explained the reason for refusing the dispatch request, saying, "The investigation team has already received dispatched personnel, and since frontline prosecutors' offices are also short-handed, the intention is to re-examine internal personnel at the Southern District Prosecutors' Office," adding, "It is not an unconditional refusal, and since related investigations have not yet fully progressed, the possibility of dispatch remains open depending on future investigation developments."

A Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office official also said, "Since the Lime incident investigation is in its early stages and other frontline prosecutors' offices are also facing difficulties, the intention is to monitor the progress of the investigation further and then decide on the dispatch."

Currently, the Lime case investigation team at the Southern District Prosecutors' Office consists of about 10 prosecutors, including four dispatched from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office and the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office. Last month, the prosecution conducted raids on the headquarters of Lime Asset Management and securities firms such as Daishin Securities, Woori Bank, and KB Securities, which are suspected of incomplete sales, securing computer files and ledgers to examine the flow of investment funds.

Earlier, investors who suffered damages from the Lime Asset Management redemption suspension incident filed complaints against Lime Asset Management officials and securities firm officials who sold the company's products on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.