"Former Securities Employee Arrested for Defrauding Clients of 24.7 Billion KRW by Promising 5% Monthly Returns"

The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes Investigation Unit of the Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency announced on December 22 that it had arrested a former securities company employee, Ms. A (a woman in her 50s), on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. She is accused of deceiving more than 10 clients and acquaintances by promising high returns and fraudulently obtaining approximately 20 billion KRW under the pretense of investment funds.

According to the police, Ms. A is suspected of leveraging her employment at a securities company from November 2022 to August 2025 to receive a total of 24.7 billion KRW from 11 clients and acquaintances under the guise of investment funds.

The police investigation revealed that Ms. A lured victims by claiming, "If you invest in employee-only investment products or corporate short-term loan products, you will receive a 3 to 5 percent return within a month," and induced them to deposit money into her personal account.

However, the securities company where she worked did not offer any employee-only investment products, and it was found that Ms. A did not invest the money received from victims in any other financial products.

Instead, she continued her scheme by using a "Ponzi scheme" method, returning a portion of the funds received from new investors to earlier victims as purported returns.

The police believe there may be additional victims of Ms. A's crimes and are continuing their investigation.

A police official stated, "Ms. A used most of the money she received from victims for personal expenses, such as living costs. As crimes involving the misappropriation of investment funds under the pretense of high returns continue to occur, extra caution is advised."