Prosecution Seeks Life Imprisonment Again in 2nd Trial for Kim Jaehyun in 'Optimus Fund Fraud' Case

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The prosecution has also requested a life sentence in the appellate trial for Kim Jae-hyun, CEO of Optimus Asset Management (Optimus), who was indicted on charges of a fund fraud amounting to over 1 trillion won.

On the 30th, at the appellate trial presided over by the Criminal Division 5 of the Seoul High Court (Chief Judge Yoon Kang-yeol, Judges Park Jae-young and Kim Sang-chul), the prosecution stated, "We request the court to sentence the defendant to life imprisonment, impose a fine of approximately 4.0578 trillion won, and order the confiscation of approximately 1.4329 trillion won."

The prosecution also requested the same sentences as in the first trial for Lee Dong-yeol, the second-largest shareholder of Optimus, and Director Yoon Seok-ho, seeking 25 years and 20 years imprisonment respectively. They also demanded fines of approximately 3.4281 trillion won and confiscation orders of 1.1722 trillion won for each.

For Yoo Mo (39), an advisor at Skin&Skin, the prosecution sought 15 years imprisonment, a fine of 856.5 billion won, and confiscation of 285.5 billion won. For Song Mo (50), a director at Optimus, they requested 10 years imprisonment, a fine of 3.4281 trillion won, and confiscation of 1.1427 trillion won.

Kim and others were prosecuted on charges of raising about 1.3526 trillion won from investors between April 2018 and June 2020 by claiming to invest in public institution accounts receivable, then engaging in the acquisition of non-performing bonds and fund recycling.

In the first trial, Kim was found guilty of most charges and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment, a fine of 50 million won, and confiscation of 75.175 billion won. Lee and Yoon were also sentenced to 8 years imprisonment and fines amounting to several hundred million won respectively.

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