The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said on the 20th that it additionally recovered 450 million won of criminal proceeds from Kim Jae-hyun, former head of Optimus Asset Management and the main culprit in the Optimus fund fraud case worth about 1 trillion won, returning it to the national treasury.
The amount recovered this time is part of the jeonse deposit for an apartment in Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, contracted under the name of Kim's wife. Earlier, prosecutors secured a preservation order to collect the deposit worth 940 million won, and the landlord deposited it with the court. After winning a lawsuit filed by prosecutors to confirm the right to withdraw the deposit, they recovered 450 million won, excluding national taxes and the like.
By tracing borrowed-name investment funds and resort memberships, prosecutors have recovered a total of 19.38 billion won from Kim so far. Under relevant laws, the secured funds are classified as crime victim property and will be returned to victims.
From 2018 to 2020, Kim was indicted on charges including violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes for allegedly soliciting about 1.3 trillion won in investments by falsely claiming to invest in public institution accounts receivable, then using the funds to acquire nonperforming loans and to roll over the fund. In 2022, the Supreme Court finalized a sentence of 40 years in prison, a fine of 500 million won, and forfeiture of 75.17 billion won for Kim.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said, "We will continue to do our best to strip illicit gains through thorough recovery of criminal proceeds and to help restore losses for victims of economic crimes."