Optimus New Investigation Team Begins Full-Scale Inquiry After Five Days

All Additional Prosecutors Report to Central District Prosecutors' Office... Focus on Investigating Fund Fraud Process and Additional Lobbying Allegations

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The dedicated investigation team for Optimus Asset Management, reinforced with additional personnel, has begun full-scale investigations. This comes five days after the Ministry of Justice approved the appointment of five deputy prosecutors on the 14th. The existing investigation team, the five prosecutors approved by the Ministry of Justice, and four additional members from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office have started coordinating detailed investigation roles.

According to the prosecution on the 20th, the five newly appointed prosecutors approved by the Ministry of Justice began reporting to the Economic Crime Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office from the 19th. Additionally, four prosecutors newly assigned by the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office also moved to the Economic Crime Division on the same day.

It was confirmed that the five prosecutors approved by the Ministry of Justice received an official directive regarding the investigation team from the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 16th. The order included their transfer to the Economic Crime Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which is investigating the Optimus case, but did not specify an investigation deadline. A member of the investigation team explained, "Since the investigation is important, rather than setting a fixed deadline, it is expected that the investigation period will be extended monthly according to the investigation progress."

The five new members are ▲ Choi Jae-soon, prosecutor at Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office (37th class) ▲ Nam Jae-hyun, prosecutor at Northern District Prosecutors' Office (1st Bar Exam) ▲ Nam Dae-ju, prosecutor at Suncheon Branch of Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office (37th class) ▲ Choi Jong-hyuk, prosecutor at Gwangju District Prosecutors' Office (36th class) ▲ Kim Chang-seop, prosecutor at Cheongju District Prosecutors' Office (37th class). Prosecutor Choi Jae-soon was dispatched to the special prosecutor team led by Park Young-soo during the political scandal investigation, and Prosecutor Nam Jae-hyun handled the investigation of Heo In-hoe, former chairman of the Green Dream Cooperative. Prosecutor Nam Dae-ju participated in the investigation of accounting fraud allegations at Samsung Biologics, Prosecutor Choi Jong-hyuk in the judicial scandal case, and Prosecutor Kim Chang-seop in the investigation to clarify former President Lee Myung-bak's actual ownership of DAS.

Since most of them worked at regional prosecutors' offices outside the metropolitan area, they reportedly reviewed Optimus investigation materials separately at their previous workplaces over the past weekend. On the 16th, when the Supreme Prosecutors' Office issued the directive to the investigation team, the Economic Crime Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office conducted raids on the Korea Radio Promotion Association's Gyeongin Headquarters in Namdong-gu, Incheon, the headquarters of Daishin Securities in Jung-gu, Seoul, and Gangnam N Tower in Gangnam, Seoul. The investigation team has secured testimonies from related parties that former Optimus Alternative Investment CEO Jeong Young-je provided bribes to the fund management officer to attract investment from the Radio Promotion Association. Daishin Securities was the first to sell the Optimus fund.

The newly formed investigation team shared the investigation records so far and discussed future investigation plans during their first meeting on the 19th. Due to the team size doubling, it reportedly took considerable time to allocate offices within the Economic Crime Division. Detailed coordination of duties between the existing investigation team and the newly joined members from the Ministry of Justice and Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office is expected to be completed soon.

The investigation team plans to focus on finding additional clues to uncover the fund fraud process and lobbying suspicions. They will expand the scope of the investigation and conduct further inquiries into individuals suspected of bribery. The arrest of Lee, a director of the cosmetics company Skin&Skin, suspected of involvement in the Optimus fraud, was made against this backdrop. This is the first case of detention since the prosecution began investigating Optimus' political and governmental lobbying allegations. The prosecution applied charges against Lee and others for embezzling 15 billion KRW of Skin&Skin's funds under the pretext of a dental mask distribution business.