JYP Entertainment Secures Final Victory in Lawsuit Against Optimus Fund; NH Investment Ordered to Pay 151 Million Won in Compensation

JYP Entertainment has achieved a final victory in its lawsuit against NH Investment & Securities over the Optimus fund scam. On April 9, the Supreme Court ordered NH Investment & Securities to pay approximately 151 million won as compensation. This is the first final judgment issued seven years after the Optimus scandal broke out in 2019.

In December 2019, at the recommendation of NH Investment & Securities, JYP Entertainment invested 3 billion won in the Optimus fund. The fund was presented as a stable investment product that invested in accounts receivable from public institutions and local governments, but in reality, its assets were private debt securities issued by unlisted companies. The invested funds were instead used for real estate development projects or individual stock and derivative investments.

The Optimus scandal came to light in 2020 when redemptions of the fund were halted. JYP Entertainment filed a lawsuit in 2021, demanding the cancellation of the investment contract and the return of unjust gains. The first-instance court ordered payment of approximately 3.09034 billion won, but the appellate court reduced NH Investment & Securities’ liability to 60% after deducting about 500 million won recovered during the liquidation process, ruling that only approximately 1.5 billion won in compensation should be paid.

The Optimus fund scam was a major fraud case in which Optimus Asset Management claimed to offer investment products based on public institution accounts receivable, but actually directed funds into high-risk private debt securities of struggling private companies. NH Investment & Securities was the largest distributor of this fund, with total losses amounting to approximately 40 billion won. The company was found guilty of promoting such investments by emphasizing the stability of public institution accounts receivable investments without thoroughly examining or explaining that such investments were actually unfeasible.