In his 30s, civil servant A invested 370 million won, all of his assets, into the 'ultra-short-term bonds' sold by the lending company PS Financial, only to lose it all. The investment included 150 million won, which was supported by his parents for rental deposit and a credit loan. A is currently anxious as he lacks 20 million won that he needs to resolve next month.
Why did A trust PS Financial, a company he had rarely heard of? A explained that it was because the person who recommended the product was an insurance planner he met during a Mirae Asset financial study. A also received the recommendation from an office located on the 9th floor of GT Tower in Seocho-gu, Seoul, where Mirae Asset Life Insurance and its subsidiary, Mirae Asset Financial Services, operated together. Because it was recommended by Mirae Asset, he couldn't imagine the worst case of a Ponzi scheme.
Insurance planners affiliated with Mirae Asset Life Insurance have been confirmed to be involved in the 'PS Financial Ponzi scheme' incident, which is expected to cause at least 200 billion won in damages. They opened financial study sessions for young professionals in their 30s lacking financial knowledge, during which they encouraged investments in the problematic PS Financial products.
According to police on the 23rd, hundreds of complaints related to PS Financial have been filed at the Gangnam Police Station in Seoul. More than 500 people have gathered in the PS Financial victim group. The police have charged about 10 individuals, including PS Financial representative Lee, with fraud and violations of specific economic crime laws.
◇ Went to Mirae Asset's 'financial study' and ended up on the brink
The trigger for A getting entangled in the Ponzi scheme was signing up for an 'online and offline pension management study' advertised by Mirae Asset Financial Services on social media. A learned about financial management after meeting an insurance planner at the Mirae Asset Financial Services office where the study was held. The business card A received had the Mirae Asset Financial Services logo alongside the title 'comprehensive financial asset consultant,' so he didn't even realize at the time that the person was an insurance planner.
During the study, the insurance planner recommended an ultra-short-term bond sold by PS Financial to A. The yield was around 10% per month. The insurance planner explained that since it was a bond, the principal was guaranteed and the maturity was only 3 to 5 months, allowing for quick asset accumulation.
Victims, including B, who invested 300 million won collected for real estate transactions, and C, who invested 90 million won created through a youth leap account, met with ChosunBiz and all participated in Mirae Asset financial studies before becoming victims of the Ponzi scheme. They were all young professionals in their 30s. B said, 'If PS Financial had advised me to invest, I would have never done it,' adding, 'Since a person who is a comprehensive financial consultant from Mirae Asset recommended it, I thought it was a good product.'
◇ 'Ultra-short-term bonds likely do not exist'
What is the identity of the 'ultra-short-term bonds' that A and others invested in? Victims met by ChosunBiz did not know specific information such as which company issued the bonds. Whenever victims asked related questions, the insurance planners reportedly evaded by saying things like, 'It's a company with a good credit rating' or 'It's a cooperation partner of a large corporation.'
Some victims suspect that PS Financial may have used the investment funds elsewhere. As PS Financial is a lending company, they suspect that by luring in investment funds with non-existent fake bonds, they lent money elsewhere and paid interest to investors with the proceeds from the loans, leading to problems.
Baek Seok-jun, the representative attorney of OEN Law Office, which is representing some victims, said, 'The victims seem to have directly invested in PS Financial instead of bonds,' adding, 'It is presumed that the company profited from the interest rate difference by lending the investment money to corporations at high interest rates.' He added, 'It is likely that the companies borrowing from PS Financial have low credit ratings or are in a state of over-indebtedness, and if the loan recovery becomes impossible, PS Financial will bear all the responsibility, which seems to have led to the current problems.'
A representative of Mirae Asset Life Insurance stated, 'Some of the insurance planners involved in the issue have been dismissed through investigation,' adding, 'The fraud suspicions surrounding the lending company PS Financial are only related to a small portion of insurance planners, and it cannot be said that Mirae Asset led this.' He also mentioned, 'We conduct regular training for the insurance planners at Mirae Asset Life Insurance and Mirae Asset Financial Services on sales processes and other matters.'