Optimus CEO Kim Jaehyun Sentenced to 40 Years in Prison for 1 Trillion Won Fund Fraud

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Kim Jaehyun, CEO of Optimus Asset Management (Optimus), who was prosecuted on charges of a "trillion-won fund fraud," has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.

On the morning of the 14th, the Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Min Yusook) upheld the original sentence of 40 years imprisonment for CEO Kim. Lee Dongyeol (47), the second-largest shareholder of Optimus who was also indicted, was sentenced to 20 years in prison and fined 500 million won, and Director Yoon Seokho (45) was sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined 300 million won.

The court stated, "The lower court did not err in its understanding of the law regarding conspiracy in violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud) and fraud charges, deceptive acts, intent to defraud, and the establishment of violations of the Capital Markets Act," and dismissed all appeals.

Earlier, CEO Kim and others were prosecuted on charges of deceiving investors by claiming to invest in public institution accounts receivable from April 2018 to June 2020, raising approximately 1.4 trillion won in investment funds, then engaging in acquiring non-performing bonds and rolling over funds. The prosecution confirmed that there were 3,200 victims, and considering corporate and organizational investors, the actual damage is estimated to be even greater.

The first trial sentenced CEO Kim to 25 years in prison, along with a fine of 500 million won and a confiscation amount of 75.175 billion won. Lee was sentenced to 8 years in prison and fined 300 million won, and Yoon was sentenced to 8 years in prison and fined 200 million won.

The first trial court said, "This is a large-scale fraud and capital market disruption case carried out while completely ignoring the basic duty of good faith and ethical awareness required of financial investment professionals," adding, "It caused enormous damage and shock to many victims who believed it was a stable product, seriously undermining trust, transparency, and soundness in the financial market, greatly shrinking the private equity fund market."

The second trial stated, "Some charges that the first trial acquitted Kim Jaehyun and Lee Dongyeol of were judged guilty, and the sentence for Yoon Seokho was deemed excessively light and unfair," significantly increasing their sentences.

The second trial court emphasized, "The defendants caused enormous confusion in the early investigation by attempting to destroy evidence when the fund became unsellable and discussing response strategies divided among the Financial Supervisory Service, prosecution, and courts," adding, "They inflicted enormous financial and psychological shock on many innocent victims and seriously damaged the reliability and transparency of the financial market, causing great social harm." It also added, "It is necessary to impose a heavy sentence to isolate them from society for a long time so that they live with lifelong remorse and to prevent recidivism."

On the same day, Yoo Hyunkwon, advisor of Skin&Skin, who was jointly indicted for forging and using accounts receivable transfer contracts and transfer confirmation documents during the fund fraud process, was sentenced to 17 years in prison and fined 500 million won, and Song Sanghee, an internal director of Optimus, was sentenced to 8 years in prison and fined 300 million won.

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