'Optimus Broker' Jung Young-je sentenced to 9 years in prison and fined 500 million won in appeal trial

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Jeong Youngje, former CEO of Optimus Alternative Investment and a key accomplice in the 'Optimus case,' was sentenced to 9 years in prison and fined 500 million won in the appellate court. This is one year longer than the sentence in the first trial.

At 10 a.m. on the 31st, the Criminal Division 3 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Park Yeonwook) handed down this sentence to former CEO Jeong, who was indicted on charges including fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. They also ordered a confiscation of approximately 274 million won.

The appellate court stated, "The crime involved in this case is very serious as the defendant and related parties raised fund money from the victim, Korea Communications Agency, by falsely promising high returns through investment in public institution sales receivables, then diverted a huge amount of 106 billion won to other businesses of interest," adding, "The Optimus fraud began in earnest by deceiving numerous individual investors into believing they were investing in safe bonds."

Furthermore, the court added, "Later, the investment money from new investors was used in a Ponzi-like scheme to pay the Korea Communications Agency, causing the damage to be passed on to individual investors, so strict responsibility cannot be avoided."

All the grounds for appeal claimed by former CEO Jeong were rejected. While the first trial judged the embezzlement amount related to occupational embezzlement at 420 million won, the appellate court recognized it as 1.2 billion won following the prosecutor’s amendment to the indictment, resulting in a heavier sentence. Former CEO Jeong shouted, "I absolutely cannot accept this verdict," and was dragged out of the courtroom by court officers.

Previously, former CEO Jeong was accused of conspiring with CEO Kim Jaehyun of Optimus and others to deceive the Korea Communications Agency by pretending to invest in public institution sales receivables and embezzling the investment funds. The first trial sentenced him to 8 years in prison and fined 500 million won, along with ordering confiscation of approximately 270 million won.

Meanwhile, the Seoul High Court overturned the first trial’s sentence of 25 years in prison for CEO Kim, who was indicted on fraud charges under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes in February, and sentenced him to 40 years in prison. Co-defendants, second-largest shareholder Lee Dongyeol and director Yoon Seokho, were sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined 500 million won, and 15 years in prison and fined 300 million won, respectively, in the appellate court. The Optimus fund fraud centers on CEO Kim and others collecting about 1.3 trillion won from April 2018 to June 2020 by claiming to invest in public institution sales receivables, then using the funds for acquiring bad debts and Ponzi-like fund schemes.

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