Fraud Using Fake Stock Program... Investment Amount 72.6 Billion Won

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kang Sharon] The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency announced on the 5th that they have apprehended a group involved in defrauding individual investors using a fake investment program where buy and sell orders were not linked.

The police arrested 51 people, including the ringleader Choi (in his 60s), and detained 12 of them.

The group is accused of operating a disguised investment company from July 2017 to November last year, enrolling 3,883 people and unlawfully collecting 72.6 billion KRW in investment funds.

They lured investors by claiming that high profits could be earned with small investments through a high-risk financial investment product called 'leverage.' When investors deposited margin money, the group falsely registered the investment funds in a fake program where buy and sell orders did not actually occur, deceiving investors into believing stock trading was possible.

When investors who made profits from rising stock prices requested withdrawals, the program access was blocked.

When stock prices fell, the remaining investment funds were sometimes returned, leading investors to perceive the losses as their own investment decisions.

Investors invested amounts ranging from several million KRW to several hundred million KRW, but only some received partial refunds or none at all. The investor who suffered the greatest loss lost all 1.9 billion KRW.

Some of the collected investment funds were used for personnel expenses and maintenance costs to operate the disguised investment company.

The police confiscated and preserved illegal profits worth approximately 1.82 billion KRW, including cash, precious metals, real estate under false names, and golf club memberships, in two rounds.

The police are expanding their investigation, believing the group collected personal information from stock-related communities and websites and contacted investors individually.

A police official stated, "Phone calls individually recommending stock investments are likely investment scams using illegally obtained personal information," and urged, "If you suspect an unauthorized investment company, you should verify the company information on the 'Financial Consumer Information Portal.'"

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