People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won filed a criminal complaint on the 4th with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials against former presidential policy chief Kim Yong-beom, Financial Supervisory Service Governor Lee Chan-jin and Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eok-won. The complaint alleges that the officials rushed the introduction of single-stock leveraged exchange-traded funds, causing massive investment losses.
At a press conference at the National Assembly, Na said she was filing a complaint with the anti-corruption agency against "the ETF fraud trio of Kim Yong-beom, Lee Chan-jin and Lee Eok-won, who caused 54 trillion won in public losses." The complaint cites fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, along with abuse of authority, dereliction of duty and conflict of interest.
Na argued that the matter should not be viewed as investment failure by retail investors. "The 54 trillion won in asset losses is being attributed largely to the rushed introduction of leveraged ETF products," she said. "This is state-led fraud in which the economic command center and financial regulators colluded with big capital and the state set the table."
On Kim's resignation, Na called for the other two officials to step down as well. "This case does not end with one resignation letter from the former policy chief," she said. "Does tossing out a resignation letter make the bill for 54 trillion won that evaporated from citizens' accounts disappear?"
