Court Orders Seizure and Preservation of 1.2 Trillion Won in Optimus Scam Damages

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The court has issued an order for seizure preservation on the assets of Kim Jaehyun, CEO of Optimus Asset Management, and others in relation to damages amounting to approximately 1.2 trillion KRW caused by the large-scale suspension of fund redemptions at Optimus Asset Management.

According to the court on the 15th, the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 34 (Presiding Judge Heo Seonah) ordered seizure preservation on the assets of Kim Jaehyun, CEO of Optimus Asset Management, and Lee, the second largest shareholder, up to a limit of 1.2 trillion KRW.

The seizure preservation order is a measure to freeze the defendant’s illegal assets obtained through criminal acts, preventing them from hiding or disposing of such assets until a final court ruling is made. A court official explained, "If additional assets of CEO Kim and others are discovered in the future and the prosecution requests seizure preservation for those, the order can be issued up to 1.2 trillion KRW."

They added, "The amount for seizure preservation is based on the evidence submitted by the prosecution when requesting seizure preservation, so the actual confiscation amount may change during the main trial." Due to this measure, CEO Kim and Lee can no longer dispose of assets presumed to be proceeds of crime at their discretion.

Previously, CEO Kim and others are suspected of defrauding approximately 1.2 trillion KRW from about 2,900 people by claiming to invest in public institution-issued construction project accounts receivable from April 2018 to June this year. The prosecution filed additional charges last month, stating that the amount of fraud involving CEO Kim increased by about 209.9 billion KRW.

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