Court Issues Arrest Warrant Without Hearing for Optimus Lobbyist

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] A detention warrant was issued without a separate hearing for a businessman suspected of acting as a key lobbyist in the Optimus Asset Management (Optimus) fund fraud case.

According to the court on the 16th, Kim Tae-gyun, the chief judge in charge of warrants at the Seoul Central District Court, issued a detention warrant on the 13th for Ki Mo, who is accused of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud) and other charges. Judge Kim stated, "The main criminal facts have been substantiated and the case is serious," adding, "The suspect was deemed to have fled, so the detention warrant was issued."

Ki is suspected of receiving 20 million won from Kim Jae-hyun, CEO of Optimus, under the pretext of requesting a favor from Mr. A, a former official of the Financial Supervisory Service, in relation to the Optimus redemption suspension incident. It is also known that Ki directly introduced Mr. A to CEO Kim. Additionally, Ki is accused of handing over illicit funds amounting to hundreds of millions of won to key shareholders of Haeduck Powerway, a ship supplies manufacturer acquired with Optimus funds.

Earlier, the Economic Crime Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Joo Min-cheol) requested a pre-detention warrant on the 4th for Kim Mo, who was also identified as a lobbyist along with Ki. However, Ki did not attend the detention hearing held on the 6th and reportedly went into hiding without submitting a separate notice of absence to the court.

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