Principal Guarantee and High Returns Promised
Victims Delegate Futures Trading Accounts
Induced to Pay Condo Deposit on Behalf
A securities trader who deceived investors into believing they could earn high profits through futures options trading and embezzled hundreds of millions of won was sentenced to prison.
On the 5th, Jo Aram, judge of the Criminal Division 7 at the Seoul Eastern District Court, announced that Mr. A (58), who was prosecuted on charges of fraud, was sentenced to five years in prison.
Mr. A was charged with embezzling over 500 million won in investment funds from four people by promising partial principal guarantees and large profits if they entrusted him with futures options trading investments.
Mr. A deceived Mr. B by claiming he could generate 100 million won in profits per month and took over a futures options trading account under Mr. B’s name containing 20 million won. However, it was confirmed that Mr. A had no history of generating profits through trading and had no intention of returning the principal. Furthermore, Mr. A was found to lack any proper experience to be considered a financial investment expert.
In addition, Mr. A induced investments from three other victims, including Mr. C, using similar methods. He deceived Mr. C by promising to compensate half of the principal if losses occurred and received 50 million won. He received 200 million won from Mr. D by claiming he would invest only 30% of the principal in a safe manner to increase profits. From Mr. E, he embezzled a total of 285 million won by persuading him to sell all his stocks and entrust the funds to Mr. A to recover losses.
Moreover, Mr. A is also accused of acquiring a condominium worth approximately 2.2 billion won and inducing investors to pay the purchase price directly. He promised Mr. C that if he paid 100 million won out of the 250 million won condominium deposit, he would sign the contract under Mr. C’s name and double the deposit upon completion. Mr. A also deceived Mr. E by promising to sign the condominium contract under Mr. E’s name and induced him to pay a 10 million won deposit.
However, it was confirmed that Mr. A had no significant assets at the time and was unable to pay the full purchase price.
The court stated, "It is questionable whether the defendant understands or empathizes with the victims’ losses and suffering, and the scale of the damage is considerable," but added, "However, considering that the victims also entrusted accounts containing substantial funds to the defendant without sufficient review in hopes of quick large profits, it is difficult to say they bear no responsibility," explaining the reasons for sentencing.
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