Prosecutors Recover Additional 450 Million Won in Forfeiture from Former Optimus CEO Kim Jaehyun in 1 Trillion Won Fund Fraud Case

193.8 Billion Won Recovered Out of 75.17 Billion Won Ordered for Forfeiture

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office announced on March 20 that it had additionally recovered 450 million won out of the 75.17 billion won in forfeiture ordered against Kim Jae-hyun, former CEO of Optimus Asset Management.

Office of Optimus Asset Management, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

Kim was indicted on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes after raising approximately 1.3 trillion won from investors between 2018 and 2020 under the pretense of investing in public institution accounts receivable, but instead using the funds to acquire non-performing loans and cover up losses in the fund. In 2022, the Supreme Court finalized his sentence of 40 years in prison, a 500 million won fine, and the forfeiture of 75.17 billion won.

To recover the criminal proceeds, the prosecution secured a provisional seizure of a 940 million won jeonse deposit for an apartment in Cheongdam-dong under Kim's wife's name, and the landlord deposited the deposit into the court. After winning a lawsuit to confirm the right to claim the court deposit, the prosecution recovered 450 million won for the national treasury, excluding taxes and other mandatory deductions.

In addition, the authorities have identified and confiscated other assets, including investment funds under borrowed names and resort memberships held by Kim. So far, a total of 19.38 billion won has been recovered. The recovered assets, as criminal proceeds, will be returned to the crime victims in accordance with relevant laws.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office stated, "We will continue to thoroughly recover criminal proceeds, deprive offenders of illicit gains, and do our utmost to restore losses suffered by victims of economic crimes."

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