Optimus 500 Billion Won Loss Concern Realized... Half of the Damage Amount is Retirement Funds of People in Their 60s and 70s

Victims of the Optimus Fund NH Investment & Securities held a protest rally on the 20th in front of the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation in Jung-gu, Seoul, demanding compensation for the Optimus Fund damages. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Ji-hwan Park] Concerns over the Optimus Asset Management scandal, which is expected to involve a redemption suspension of up to 500 billion KRW, are increasingly becoming a reality. So far, the scale of funds with redemption delays is 240 billion KRW, and the remaining approximately 280 billion KRW in funds are also expected to face unavoidable redemption suspensions. It has been confirmed that more than half of the investment losses from Optimus funds come from retirement funds of people in their 60s and 70s.

According to the financial authorities' investigation, illegal activities such as investing in non-performing assets and circular fund management were widespread during the fund operation process by Optimus. In particular, the Optimus CEO, who is currently detained, embezzled part of the fund money amounting to hundreds of billions of KRW through personal accounts, and it has been revealed that most of these funds are currently in a loss state.

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced on the 23rd the "Interim Inspection Results and Future Response Plan for Optimus Asset Management," which includes these details.

The FSS investigation revealed illegal activities by Optimus Asset Management, including fraudulent transactions involving assets different from those in the investment proposal, embezzlement of fund money, and obstruction of inspection duties. The FSS stated, "Contrary to the investment proposal, the Optimus fund had no actual investment performance in public institution revenue bonds, and it used funds for investing in private bonds issued by companies involved in real estate and for circular fund management among funds."

The fund money, which was supposed to be invested in stable assets, was invested in private bonds of companies managed by Optimus executives. The investment amounts by company are CPNS (205.3 billion KRW), Art Paradise (203.1 billion KRW), Rafique (40.2 billion KRW), and Daebu DK AMC (22.9 billion KRW), among others. Although Optimus disclosed about 60 investment destinations totaling around 300 billion KRW, the FSS judged their reliability to be low. The FSS explained, "Since the actual use of fund money is based on materials submitted by Optimus executives, who are suspects of illegal activities, the amounts are likely inflated," and added, "Many assets have unclear ownership, so the recovery possibility is estimated to be low."

Evidence of fund embezzlement by key Optimus personnel also emerged. CEO Kim Jae-hyun, who is detained, used part of the fund money for stock and futures/options trading through personal accounts. Despite investing in stocks under his personal name, he violated the reporting obligations under the Capital Markets Act. The FSS said, "The scale of embezzlement is currently being confirmed through prosecution investigations and is estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of KRW," adding, "Most of it is presumed to have resulted in losses."

Optimus Asset Management frequently obstructed the FSS's inspection work. They hindered normal inspection duties by submitting false documents or concealing materials. It was also revealed that they submitted false sales bond transfer contracts despite having no contracts with construction companies and concealed PCs and related materials of key executives before on-site inspections, refusing to submit documents.

The FSS is conducting an inspection focused on the appropriateness of product selection and sales processes and the presence of incomplete sales at NH Investment & Securities, a major distributor, until the 24th. For the Korea Securities Depository (administrative manager) and Hana Bank (custodian), which have already undergone on-site investigations, the FSS has completed checks on the appropriateness of their operations and plans to confirm any legal violations through internal reviews and disciplinary procedures.

As of the 21st, Optimus funds total 46 funds worth 515.1 billion KRW based on the original principal. Among these, about 24 funds worth approximately 240.1 billion KRW are currently under redemption suspension. The FSS believes that the remaining 22 funds, composed of assets similar or identical to those in the redemption-delayed funds, will inevitably face redemption suspensions upon maturity.

Among the 240.4 billion KRW sold to individual investors in Optimus funds, those aged 70 and above invested 69.7 billion KRW (29.0%), and those in their 60s invested 59.1 billion KRW (24.6%). The amounts invested by those in their 50s, 40s, 30s, and 20s or younger were 65.7 billion KRW (27.3%), 30.1 billion KRW (12.5%), 9.8 billion KRW (4.1%), and 6.0 billion KRW (2.5%), respectively. Among the funds sold to individual investors, 87.02% were sold through NH Investment & Securities (209.2 billion KRW), followed by Korea Investment & Securities (27.9 billion KRW), Hanwha Investment & Securities (1.9 billion KRW), and Cape Investment & Securities (1.4 billion KRW). The FSS stated that protecting these investors is the top priority and that they are proceeding with bond preservation, asset audits, and fund transfers for Optimus funds. They plan to promptly review the possibility of dispute mediation through analysis of inspection results and legal reviews. As of the 17th, a total of 69 dispute mediation applications have been submitted to the FSS. The FSS will verify the facts quickly through analysis of inspection results and three-party meetings to ensure swift victim relief.

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