One Key Lobbyist in 'Optimus Fraud' Arrested... Another One Missing

Seoul Central District Court / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] One of the three key lobbyists known to be involved in the Optimus Asset Management (Optimus) fund fraud case was arrested on the 6th.

Seoul Central District Court Chief Judge Kim Taekyun, in charge of warrants, held a pre-arrest detention hearing for lobbyist Kim and issued an arrest warrant requested by the prosecution. Judge Kim stated, "Considering the content of the collected evidence and the progress of the investigation, there is a concern that the suspect may flee or destroy evidence."

Ki, who was also subject to an arrest warrant request along with Kim, did not attend the detention hearing that day. In response, Judge Kim said, "According to the Criminal Procedure Act, we will wait until the validity period of the investigative agency's detention warrant execution expires, but if the suspect is not detained, the decision on detention will be made after a written hearing without a separate hearing."

Earlier, on the 4th, the Economic Crime Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Jumin Cheol) requested arrest warrants for the two on charges including violation of the Attorney-at-Law Act, breach of trust, and violation of the Commercial Act.

They are accused of using an office located in N Tower, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, provided by Kim Jaehyun, CEO of Optimus, along with Shin, former CEO of an entertainment agency, and illegally lobbying political and government officials to secure Optimus's business interests. Additionally, Kim is suspected of introducing Mr. A, a former Financial Supervisory Service official, to CEO Kim Jaehyun before the Optimus redemption suspension incident, saying, "Shouldn't we talk to the Financial Supervisory Service?" and delivering 20 million won to Mr. A.

After securing their custody, the prosecution plans to identify the targets and details of the lobbying and verify whether any money or valuables were exchanged during the process. Depending on the progress of the investigation, Shin, who is also known to have acted as an Optimus lobbyist with them, is planned to be summoned.

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