Jang Ha-won, CEO of Discovery Asset Management (66), who was prosecuted for causing investment damage worth 250 billion won due to the suspension of redemptions in a private equity fund, was finally acquitted by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that there was no 'intentionality' in the process of selling the problematic fund while the assets were in a distressed state.
On the 9th, the 2nd Division of the Supreme Court (Presiding Justice Park Young-jae) upheld the original verdict acquitting CEO Jang, who was indicted on charges including violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud). CEO Jang is the younger brother of Jang Ha-sung, former chief presidential secretary for policy under the Moon Jae-in administration and former ambassador to China. The employees who were indicted together, Investment Director Kim (45) and Operations Team Leader Kim (39), also had their acquittals confirmed on the same day.
Between 2017 and 2019, they sold products investing in funds managed by the U.S. asset management company Direct Lending Investment (DLI) through domestic commercial banks and securities firms. However, around April 2019, DLI was subjected to asset freeze sanctions, leading to a suspension of redemptions and causing approximately 256.2 billion won in damages to domestic investors.
The first trial court ruled that they had no 'intent to commit fraud' and acquitted them, and the second trial court made the same judgment. The Supreme Court stated the reason for dismissing the prosecutor's appeal, saying, "There is no error in the original court's acquittal judgment regarding the legal principles on fraudulent acts in fraud charges, nor any omission in judgment."
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