Chapter 4: Premus Fund (1)

The incident occurred about two years later.

By then, the Premus Fund had sold for over 3 trillion won. Thanks to word-of-mouth and promotional efforts, not only institutional investors, corporations, and high-net-worth individuals but also ordinary customers had invested large sums of money.

However, at some point, redemptions began to be delayed. The Premus side explained that it would take some time to sell the fund's assets, and people believed them.

But even after several months, redemptions did not occur, and suspicions of fund rolling began to spread. The Financial Services Commission conducted on-site inspections, and an accounting firm audited the fund.

The results were shocking.

The claim that the fund invested only in the revenue bonds of advanced country public institutions was a lie, and the fund was filled with various non-performing assets.

There was also evidence that the management had embezzled the fund's assets. The marked valuation was 3.2 trillion won, but the actual remaining assets were less than 500 billion won.

In other words, it was a fraud, and the worst financial scandal since the Busan Savings Bank incident.

As the investigation began, the company closed its doors, and Park Tae-il, the CEO, went into hiding.

A characteristic of financial crimes is that they involve large amounts of money and produce numerous victims. Those who lost their money gathered at DA Securities, where the fund was sold, to protest.

Among them were self-employed individuals who had invested their life savings, young people saving for marriage, retirees who had invested their severance pay, and housewives who had invested their husbands' life insurance payouts.

DA Securities argued that they were merely the sales agent and that Premus Asset Management should bear the responsibility for compensation, but this argument did not hold.

The Financial Services Commission recommended that DA Securities compensate the victims by 70 percent. However, the compensation amount was beyond what the securities firm could handle.

Even if DA Securities sold all its assets, it would not amount to 1 trillion won, while 70 percent of the compensation would exceed 2 trillion won.

The victims demanded support from the DA Financial Group.

However, it was impossible for the entire group to risk itself to save one subsidiary. Naturally, shareholders opposed it, and the management felt the same way.

DA Financial Group officially announced that it would not support DA Securities, and the victims lost their chance for compensation.

Many families were ruined, and over twenty people took their own lives.

Among them was a chemical company researcher, which was another tragedy.

After losing his lifetime savings and seeing his wife, who had developed depression, jump from an apartment, the man secretly loaded a truck with flammable and toxic materials from the factory and drove it into the DA Securities headquarters.

The flammable materials exploded in a chain reaction, causing a fire. The building was engulfed in flames, and toxic gas spread in all directions.

The sprinklers activated, but they were insufficient to control the fire.

192 people were injured, and 112 died.

Most died from suffocation due to toxic gas inhalation, and many of the survivors suffered significant respiratory damage.

It was the worst disaster in the history of the Korean financial market.

Just thinking about the situation made me feel suffocated with fear.

Senior Dongho carried me out, unconscious from smoke inhalation, and saved my life. In the process, Senior Dongho suffered burns and damage to his airways.

But others were not so fortunate.

Too many people died.

Colleagues from my first year, senior students from school, colleagues from other departments who I often ate with, and the security guard I usually greeted.

This incident caused a lot of public uproar.

While some left condolences, many others left hate comments.

The perpetrator was a victim who had invested all his savings in the Premus Fund and lost his wife. He also died at the scene, so there was no point in harboring resentment.

After that, I suffered from severe trauma for a while. It wasn't just the guilt of surviving alone.

The real reason was...

"I wrote the monthly Premus Fund recommendation reports."

I didn't know it at the time.

The company said the Premus Fund was safe, and I believed it.

But can I avoid responsibility by saying I didn't know?

Many individual investors are known to have invested in the fund based on recommendations from branch employees.

My reports were used for sales and promotion, and many people likely decided to invest after reading them.

In other words, I might have ruined someone's life.

Back then, I wrote the recommendation reports without knowing better, but this time it's different. Now I know it's a fraud.

If I know the future...

"Can I change it?"

I first looked at the list of assets the Premus Fund had purchased.

Unlike stocks, whose value fluctuates based on company performance, bonds have fixed yields and maturity dates.

The Premus Fund invested only in AAA-rated assets.

The asset allocation list shows that all the investments are in bonds issued by local governments and public institutions in advanced countries like the United States, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. In other words, the probability of default is zero unless these countries collapse.

The recent three-month return is 1.6 percent, and the annual return last year was 6.2 percent.

While there are many funds that offer higher returns, including equity funds, the Premus Fund achieved this return by investing only in risk-free bonds.

The rumor that it was as safe as a bank deposit but offered higher returns than bank interest rates spread, and the fund sold like hotcakes.

At this point, I couldn't find any problems no matter how many times I checked.

"Well, that's to be expected, right?"

The executives and employees of the securities firm are not fools. If there were any issues that I could spot from the documents, they would have noticed them long ago.

* * *

I decided to think slowly about the solution and headed to the cafeteria for lunch.

Thinking about the regression made the cafeteria seem familiar. The food isn't great, but I've eaten a lot here.

As I was about to sit down with my food, someone gestured to me.

"Minu! Over here!"

I turned my head and saw a table where two men and one woman were sitting.

They were all my colleagues from the same year.

The man gesturing was Hwang Young-min, a bond broker in the Corporate Sales Department. He is two years older than me.

The man with glasses and short hair next to him is Bae Geun-seok, who works in the Trading Department. He is the same age as me.

The woman sitting across from them is Sung Yuna.

She is two years younger than me but a graduate of New York University. As a returnee, she spoke fluent English and was quick to learn.

She has a good academic background and excellent job performance, and she is also very attractive.

She is slightly over 160 cm tall with a slender figure. She has a small, delicate face, a smooth and bright forehead, neatly drawn eyebrows, large eyes, a straight nose, and red, full lips.

She ties her long hair in a single braid to keep it from getting in the way and wears a neat makeup. She still has a fresh, young look.

Hwang Young-min spoke in his usual chatty tone.

"It's been a while since we had lunch together."

Bae Geun-seok nodded.

"Yeah, even though we work in the same building, it's hard to see each other."

DA Securities hired 21 people in the first half of the year.

Excluding those who quit due to a poor fit and those who moved to branches, seven of us, including me, remain at the headquarters.

Sung Yuna asked me.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, not really."

"But why do you look so tense?"

"Well, it's just that..."

Thinking about the incident that happened before and might happen again made it hard to smile.

Bae Geun-seok died in the fire, Hwang Young-min survived but was seriously injured, and Sung Yuna quit before the incident and survived.

Seeing her reminded me of something.

Come to think of it...

Just as I was about to speak, Hwang Young-min said first.

"Isn't that Executive Yang Jeong-wook?"

I turned my head toward the entrance and saw a man in his early 40s entering the cafeteria.

He has broad shoulders and a good build, and his expression exudes confidence, as if he has never had to complain about anything in his life.

He was originally a director at DA Life but was promoted to executive at DA Securities last year. Since DA Securities is a mid-sized securities firm, there is no vice president, and the executive is directly under the president.

In essence, he is the second-in-command.

He reached the executive position at the young age of 43 not because of his exceptional management skills, but because he is the eldest son of Yang Hyun-sung, the chairman of DA Financial Group.

Several people followed him as if they were his entourage, and among them, I recognized our department head.

No wonder I didn't see him all morning; he must have been busy with his line.

Thinking that all this is for the development of our department made me feel proud.

The people around us stopped eating and quickly stood up to bow.

"Welcome, Executive."

"What brings you here, Executive?"

Yang Jeong-wook smiled.

"I'm here to eat lunch, so please stay seated and enjoy your meal."

Can anyone really eat comfortably with an executive present? He seemed to be unaware of this as he took a tray and got his food.

Bae Geun-seok whispered.

"Isn't he amazing? DA Securities has grown a lot since he came."

This is true.

Because DA Financial Group is pushing its performance. Since Yang Hyun-sung has only one son, Yang Jeong-wook, he is essentially the next chairman.

Hwang Young-min nodded.

"Wasn't it Executive Yang Jeong-wook who brought in the Premus Fund?"

"Other firms like Future Investment Securities, Yuseong Securities, and KC Securities were also interested, so how did he secure the exclusive sales rights?"

Sung Yuna said.

"I heard he has a personal relationship with Park Tae-il, the CEO of Premus Asset Management."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Regardless of whether it's connections or not, he did a good job in sales to institutions."

Listening to this, I muttered without realizing it.

"Thinking about it now, that was the problem."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

I shook my head in response to her question.

"Nothing."

Questioning the Premus Fund is essentially questioning Executive Yang Jeong-wook's management ability.

This is why no one even thought about investigating, and it made the problem worse.

Bae Geun-seok said in surprise.

"Hey! He's coming this way."

Sure enough, Executive Yang Jeong-wook was approaching the table where we were sitting. It seemed he wanted to create the image of having lunch with new employees.

"Can I sit here?"

Hwang Young-min, flustered, replied.

"O-of course."

Executive Yang Jeong-wook sat down and greeted us.

"Is the cafeteria food to your liking?"

"Of course."

"It's very good