Terra fraud could be first case by restored financial crime team in Seoul prosecution

[Photo by Lee Chung-woo]

Crypto upset from latest Terra crash could be one of the first preoccupations of a powerful joint investigation team on financial and securities crimes, restored and enlarged under prosecutor-turned-president Yoon Suk-yeol.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office announced on Wednesday that the joint investigation team on financial and securities crime would be reinstated about two years after it was abolished under former government, which strived to weaken the mighty power of prosecution.

The team, comprised of prosecutors and experts from financial regulators and tax office, had been dubbed as the death angel of Yeouido, home to stock exchange and financial headquarters. It was shut down in 2020, upsetting investigations related to Lime Asset Management and Optimus Asset Management that caused massive losses retail investors, and involved influential government and political figures.

The team's revival is the first work by Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon, former right man of Yoon, upon taking office on Tuesday.

The team enlarged to 48 could first look into the complaint with Terra and Luna, stablecoins created by a Korean national that once boasted $40 billion in market capitalization but crashed to shake the global crypto markets. An estimated 200,000 in Korea are believed to have been burned.

LKB & Partners, representing investors who suffered big losses from Terra¡¯s crash, is filing fraud charge against Do Kwon, CEO of Terrafrom Labs, the company behind Terra and Luna digital coins.

The stalled investigations on Lime Asset Management that sold risky derivatives and caused massive losses to retail investor and similar scam by Optimus Asset would likely gain speed.

[¨Ï Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]