Even the CEO of Lime Asset Management Detained... Is the Lime Scandal Trial Reaching a Turning Point?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Won Jong-jun, CEO of Lime Asset Management, who is responsible for the 'Lime Asset Management Scandal' with estimated damages reaching 1.6 trillion KRW, has been arrested.

On the 14th, Judge Park Won-kyu, in charge of warrants at the Seoul Southern District Court, issued an arrest warrant for CEO Won, who is accused of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud) and the Capital Markets Act. Judge Park stated the reason as "concerns about flight risk and evidence destruction." However, the arrest warrant was not issued for Lee, head of Lime’s Marketing Headquarters, who underwent a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant review) alongside CEO Won. Judge Park explained the dismissal reason, saying, "Since the residence is fixed and it is difficult to see a risk of evidence destruction beyond the scope of legitimate defense rights."

CEO Won and Head Lee are accused of deceiving investors by not disclosing the insolvency of the overseas trade fund and, despite intending to use the redemption funds of existing funds, pretending as if they would directly invest in the overseas trade fund. They allegedly set up and sold 18 Lime trade finance funds worth approximately 200 billion KRW.

Until now, CEO Won, who was at the center of the incident, consistently distanced himself by saying it was "a completely different issue from the overseas interest rate-linked derivative products (DLF·DLS) principal loss incident" or evaded responsibility by claiming it was "a desperate measure to protect customers' assets." With CEO Won’s arrest, the prosecution’s investigation into the Lime scandal is expected to reach a turning point. It is analyzed that the prosecution, having made some progress in investigating CEO Won through searches and seizures, gained confidence in proving the charges and thus requested the arrest warrant.

Besides CEO Won, key figures related to the Lime case have been successively arrested or brought to trial since early this year. On the 6th, Kim Bong-hyun, former chairman of Star Mobility and identified as a key figure in the Lime scandal, and Lee, CEO of Star Mobility, who is suspected of connecting political circles, were arrested. Subsequently, on the 9th, Kim Jung-soo, former chairman of Lead who was on the run, was arrested due to concerns about evidence destruction and flight risk. Kim is suspected of embezzling 44 billion KRW from Lead, a KOSDAQ-listed company that received investment from Lime.

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