The former affiliate company CEO accused of participating in the Optimus Asset Management (Optimus) fund fraud was sentenced to prison and detained in court after the first trial.
The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 25-1 (Presiding Judges Park Jeong-gil, Park Jeong-je, Ji Gwi-yeon) on the 30th sentenced former Haeduk Powerway CEO Park, who was indicted and detained on charges including embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, to 2 years and 6 months in prison. Park, who had been released on bail and was undergoing trial, was detained again in court immediately after the sentencing.
The court stated the sentencing reasons, saying, "Considering the scale of damage caused by the arbitrary use of 5 billion KRW from the paid-in capital increase and the violation of disclosure obligations as a major shareholder, the culpability is not light," and "taking into account that the defendant generally acknowledged the facts and showed remorse."
The court recognized as guilty the charge that former CEO Park conspired with Optimus CEO Kim Jae-hyun to withdraw 5 billion KRW of paid-in capital increase funds deposited to Hwaseong Industry, the largest shareholder of Haeduk Powerway in May 2020, and arbitrarily used it for the redemption of Optimus funds.
Additionally, the court found guilty the charges that Park conspired with CEO Kim to falsely pay an additional 5 billion KRW of paid-in capital increase funds and held Haeduk Powerway shares under the name of a paper company in November to December 2019, omitting related disclosures.
However, the court acquitted Park of the charges of using 13.3 billion KRW of Haeduk Powerway loans for Optimus fund redemptions and breach of trust involving approximately 3 billion KRW.
The court sentenced Oh, the former largest shareholder of KOSDAQ-listed company M, who was indicted alongside Park, to 3 years in prison, and Kang, the general director of Haeduk Powerway’s subsidiary Sebo Tech, to 4 years in prison.
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