Discovery Fund Victims File Police Complaint Against Jang Ha-won and Others

4 People Including Former IBK Bank President Kim Dojin
"'Splitting Private Equity Funds' Is a Serious Crime"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] Victims who invested in Discovery Asset Management, which caused the suspension of redemption of a 250 billion KRW fund, have filed a complaint with the police against Jang Ha-won, CEO of Discovery Asset Management, and others.

The IBK Discovery Fund Fraud Victims Countermeasure Committee (hereinafter referred to as the Countermeasure Committee) submitted a complaint against CEO Jang and former IBK Bank President Kim Do-jin, among four others, to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency at 11 a.m. on the 17th, stating, "Splitting private equity funds is the starting point of all fraudulent sales."

The Countermeasure Committee claimed, "Issuing private equity funds by splitting means formally dividing the same securities and selling them to more than 50 people," adding, "It is a cunning trick exploiting loopholes in public fund regulations and a serious crime that shakes the core foundation of disclosure in the issuance market."

They continued, "We believe CEO Jang and former President Kim were involved in the fund issuance, sales, and management process," and stated, "Splitting private equity funds should be seen as the direct cause of producing Discovery Fund victims, as it is a criminal method closely linked to fund rolling, order-made production method (OEM funds), and multi-level fund issuance."

The Countermeasure Committee said they have initially filed complaints against CEO Jang, former President Kim, and other responsible parties, and plan to identify and file additional complaints against other suspects later.

The Discovery Fund was sold through commercial banks and securities firms such as IBK Industrial Bank of Korea and Hana Bank from 2017 to 2019. CEO Jang established Discovery Asset Management in 2016 and managed the fund. He is also the younger brother of Jang Ha-sung, the Chinese ambassador and former Blue House policy chief.

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