Chapter 344
Chapter 344
“I’m working on my way to work,” Taek-gyu said.
“uh! You are now number one in real swords.”
“Huh?”
I can’t count how many times I’ve been #1 in real-time search so far. Not long ago, when I was competing with the leisure department over the game regulation issue, I also took first place.
But lately, isn’t there a problem with it?
I opened the portal site.
[Park Ho-jin, CEO of Fantastic Investments. Announced that it is ahead of last year’s strong performance][Will Fantastic Investment grow into the second OTK company?][Unlike OTK Company, which has a corporation in a tax haven, Fantastic Investment is a native Korean investment company][Young investor Hojin Park. What is the secret to his success?][Park Ho-jin, a genius of startup investment. Invest in various new industries that will lead the future][Park Ho-jin, with Bugatti’s photo at dawn, ‘If you sleep, you dream, but if you don’t sleep, you achieve your dreams. In order to surpass OTK company within 5 years, I will not stop today as well.” … ]Taek-gyu, who was lying on the sofa, jumped up.
“Ugh! I just got 1st place in the real sword by Park Ho-jin. Are you going to stay like this?”
“… … .”
what to say
I clicked through a few articles and read them.
Park Ho-jin, who is known to have made money by investing in stocks after taking a leave of absence from a prestigious university, established an investment company called Fantastic Investments.
It was from last year that he started making his name known to the public in earnest.
He appeared as an over-the-counter stock expert on Korea Economy TV, one of the cable economic channels. He became famous by steadily posting photos of supercars, including the Cheongdam-dong mansion and Bugatti, on social media, and thanks to that, he entered the entertainment industry.
As it became famous, the viewership ratings for investment broadcasts increased significantly, and the media also made it more popular. Now, posting photos or saying anything on social media is enough to become an internet news article.
The media eagerly lifted him up as a self-made genius investor, or the second Kang Jin-hoo.
Taek-gyu, who was looking through the article together, couldn’t hide his surprise.
“Wow! Were there any such fantastic investors in Korea? I will catch up after the strong earthquake soon.”
He invests mainly in privately held companies.
Unlike listed companies listed on the KOSPI and KOSDAQ, unlisted companies are not easy to trade.
Of course, there are over-the-counter exchanges that specialize in trading only the stocks of these companies, but the convenience of trading is not comparable to that of listed stocks.
In the case of listed companies, sales, operating profit, and financial status are disclosed, and audits are conducted periodically. However, private companies are free from such obligations.
Therefore, accurate valuation is not easy, and this is a factor that undervalues the stock. However, on the other hand, if you can pick out the rough stones, it means that you can get a huge return that is hard to compare with investing in a listed company.
“If you look at it up to this point, it is similar to the way OTK Company grows, but there is one big difference.”
Taek-gyu asked at my words.
“What?”
“Receive investment from the general public.”
To be precise, they are actively selling not only their unlisted stocks, but also Fantastic Investments stocks. In our terms, it would be like selling off the stakes in Karos, Faceit, and OTK Company.
Park Ho-jin enticed investors by saying that once it is listed, you can earn at least several dozen times to at least 1000 times more.
He often cited OTK Company as an example. In fact, we have achieved such a return through investment in startups.
However… … .
Taehyung narrowed his eyes.
“If you have stocks that will go up hundreds of times if they are listed, you should own them even if you are in debt, so why sell them to others?”
“I’m sorry to eat alone. Or, philanthropy.”
OTK Company, which started with only 13.8 billion won in capital (?), is currently valued at over 13.8 billion won. If only 1% had been bought in the beginning, it would have made more than 10 trillion won. However, we did not receive any external investment, and we only own the shares.
But when someone establishes a similar type of company and the media calls it the second Kang Jin-Huni and the second OTK company, did people rush in with money?
“You say you did pretty well though. Some of the over-the-counter stocks recommended on the show have risen more than 30 times.”
“Anyway, the outcome of an investment is one of two things. rising or falling. It’s like tossing a coin. I recommend ten, isn’t it weird if one or two of them don’t fit?”
As long as you turn on the economic channel, all kinds of investment experts come out around the clock and talk nonstop about stocks and real estate.
I don’t know what the hell they are doing, but they all have the title of director of the institute. Director of Real Estate Trading Research Institute, Director of Equity Investment Research Institute, Director of World Economic Research Institute, etc.
Is this a real research institute, or is it the name of a laboratory when studying at home while watching the Internet?
You might think that a health program is similar to hiring a doctor and a legal program hiring a lawyer and hearing their opinions, but at least those people have a doctor’s license and a lawyer’s license.
However, there is no means to prove that an investment expert is an expert. There is no way to determine whether the person is really talented or whether he made money by investing.
What comes out is fixed.
Recommending a specific stock or real estate and recommending that you buy it as it will go up. Surprisingly, these people either invested in these stocks first, or they brokered real estate to collect commissions.
If what you’re saying is right, it’s good, otherwise it’s not.
In order to avoid liability, broadcasters display captions before and after the program that say, ‘Experts’ recommendations are personal opinions, and they are not legally responsible for the investment results based on the information provided’.
Among these experts, Park Ho-jin is the most popular case. Would you like to show your face even in the entertainment industry?
While we were chatting while watching a video of Taek-gyu and Park Ho-jin, senior Sang-yeop came up to the CEO’s office.
Sangyeop, who heard our story, said.
“Ah, Park Ho-jin. I met him once.”
“Ok?”
“We met by chance at some kind of party. They shake hands and say I respect you.”
“How does your senior look?”
Sangyeop-senpai answered my question as if he had nothing to think about.
“How is it? Just looking at it is silly. Successful entrepreneurs and investors have a unique charisma or atmosphere. Do you know what it feels like?”
I nodded.
“I know.”
“But there is nothing like that. I was curious and looked at some companies that they invested in, but these are places I’ve never heard of. What I do is more like a salesperson than an investor.”
“The media say it’s the second Kang Jin-hoo.”
At Taek-gyu’s words, Sang-yeop smirked.
“It’s just a press play. Could it be a comparison in the first place?”
Taehyung patted my shoulder.
“Even though they boast of Cheongdam-dong mansions and Bugatti, compared to Jinhui, they are no less poor neighbors.”
“There are a lot of these guys in Yeouido these days. After setting up an appropriate investment company, they hold investment lectures and snoop around broadcasters to raise money. 90% of them are scammers.”
No matter what Park Ho-jin is doing, it doesn’t matter to me. She’s not avoiding me either.
However, Taek-gyu seems to have a different opinion.
“What do you mean? Shouldn’t the growing scammers be lightly trampled on?”
“It’s annoying, right?”
Taek-gyu chuckled.
“It’s fun.”
“… … .”
What’s your hobby, catching scammers?
Taek-gyu called Team Leader Jeong Ki-hong.
“Please talk to Golden Gate and find out about Fantastic Investments and the companies they have invested in. Let’s check if we have the right to beat Kang Jin-hoo and take first place in real swords.”
* * *
OTK Company started as an investment company and has grown into a mega conglomerate.
Until then, the largest investment company in the world was Berkshire Cashier. However, the current market cap of OTK Company is estimated to be twice that of Berkshire Cashier. What’s even more surprising is that this has been achieved in just a few years.
After the success story of OTK Company became known, everyone dreamed of becoming a second and third OTK Company. Investment companies came up one after another, and people who claimed to be the second and third Kang Jin-hoo appeared.
Park Ho-jin was one of them. As an ordinary stock investor, he saw the success of OTK Company and established Fantastic Investment with the money he earned so far to invest in startups.
However, he did not have the same insight as Kang Jin-hoo. Far from growing into unicorns, the companies he invested in collapsed within a few months. All the stocks they bought were in danger of becoming scraps of paper.
He roamed around to resell the stock he held to avoid losses. Of course, he promoted it not as a company that will go out of business soon, but as a company that will grow hundreds of times if it goes public in the future. But strangely, there were many people who wanted to buy the stock.
This is also because of Kang Jin-hoo’s success. People think that when they see someone who has reached the top, whether studying or exercising, it must have been supported by tremendous effort and talent.
But investing is different. Nothing seems as easy as making someone else’s money. Just find a company like Karos or Faceit and put your money in it.
From then on, he began to walk the steps of a scammer in earnest. Being visible to scammers is more important than anything else.
He moved to a mansion in Cheongdam-dong, and bought a Bugatti by force. And he boasted that he was wealthy through his successful investment through social media.
At the same time, the media was also paying attention. The concept of a successful investor in the same age as Kang Jin-hoo was what all the media wanted.
After appearing as an over-the-counter stock expert on Korea Economy TV, everything went well. Stocks of little value were sold at prices tens or hundreds of times with a single word of his.
He lived in a mansion, drove several supercars, and dated models from idol groups. He truly has achieved everything he has ever dreamed of.
The media rushed to report his success, and Ho-jin Park spoke proudly in several investment lectures and broadcasts.
He said, “We will list Fantastic Investment on the KOSDAQ within this year. The market cap is expected to be 3 trillion. If the startups we are currently investing in are listed one after another, the value of Fantastic Investment will increase to more than 30 trillion won. We will grow Fantastic Investment into a company that surpasses OTK Company within 5 years!”
As Park Ho-jin’s fame grew, an unexpected amount of money rolled into his hands. And the money raised his reputation again.
The media praised Fantastic Investment as Korea’s largest investment company after OTK Company.
But this situation cannot last long. The fraud is bound to be uncovered someday.
Park Ho-jin also felt insecure. He thought he had to clean up and run away sooner or later, and he was slowly getting ready.
If he’s cheating anyway, he should get as much money as he can.
So today, he gathered hundreds of people and enthusiastically engaged in over-the-counter stock sales under the guise of an investment lecture.
“Fantastic Investments will soon enter into the selection of a listing manager. For this, KYB Securities and other securities companies are competing. Currently, Fantastic Investment is trading at 30,000 won over the counter, but the offering price is expected to be 900,000 won. This is your last chance to become a shareholder of Fantastic Investments!”
People opened their eyes and listened to him. Then, suddenly, people started screaming. Everyone took out their phones and looked at them in surprise.
No one was listening to the lecture anymore. Someone raised a hand and shouted.
“Is it true that Fantastic Investments is a scam?”
“Yes?”
At that moment, the people in the lecture hall all stood up and shouted.
“what? Was this a scam?”
“Are you selling trash stock to us now?”
“Give me back my money!
Park Ho-jin panicked and took out his cell phone from his pocket. In the news section of the portal site, the announcement of the OTK Company PR team was floating as breaking news.
[OTK Company is analyzing companies scheduled to be listed for financial investment. However, in the case of Fantastic Investments and several companies that it has invested in, it is highly likely that they will not meet the listing requirements and will suffer serious insolvency. As fraud is suspected, we ask investors to be cautious.]Park Ho-jin was shocked.
‘What, what? Why is Kang Jin-hoo so interested in a pyramid like me?’
* * *
Park Ho-jin, who appeared on Korea Economy TV, said it was unfair.
“Fantastic Investments is expected to receive large amounts of investment from Chinese and Hong Kong investors. However, all those investment plans have been cancelled. How is this different from a large corporation going out to kill SMEs? But I will never be disappointed. I will do my best to the end even for the investors who believed in me.”
Conservative media, which has accumulated a lot over the years, published articles defending Park Ho-jin.
[Kicking the ladder by Jinhoo Kang. Check or Jealousy?](Strategy) Compared to the rapid industrial development in Korea, the investment culture has not matured properly. In foreign countries where investment culture is developed, it is not uncommon for successful investors to lead younger investors.
In a book he wrote, Warren Bott feared that an investor like him would never appear in America again.
But this time, Jin-hoo Kang’s behavior is the exact opposite. As if she had climbed her own and kicked her ladder, she put her new investment firm in jeopardy by raising unfounded allegations.(Read more @ wuxiax.com)
Now that the financial market is struggling, it is more important than ever to be ethical as an investor. At the very least, checks or jealousy should never undermine the reputation of a young investor who is just starting to make a name for himself.
Unfortunately, public reaction was cold.
-Park Ho-jin Because I’m sick. I’ve known it since I was riding a Bugatti.
-Hey, he said, ‘I’ll jump over it after the earthquake, what is it?
– No, Jinhoo Kang might be wrong. It sounds like you’re threatening your place, aren’t you doing that to kill me?
– What the hell are you doing? Are you doing that for yourself?
– What is this, Bill Gates downloading Windows illegally, and Warren Boat getting investment advice from a new employee at a brokerage firm?
– This is unconditionally true of Kang Jin-hoo. I would believe one person after Kang Jin-Hoo rather than 100 other experts.
-right. When it comes to money, Jinhoo Kang is absolutely right.
-real. My grandfather cussed me for being a pro-North red gang every day after a strong earthquake, but when the OTK Company said where he invested, he turned on the lights and looked at the related stocks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
– Hahaha Even the members of the Parents’ Association, who are rallying for Park Si-hyung’s release, put their wrists on the belief that if Jin-hoo Kang shoots one stock, they all run to the securities company.
-I don’t know if it’s a leftist or a leftist. The important thing is that no investment has failed so far.
As the suspicion grew, investors who bought unlisted stocks believing only Park Ho-jin’s words rushed to the company to ask for their money back.
Then, Park Ho-jin took the time to exchange it for Fantastic Investment stock.
As complaints from investors flooded in, the financial authorities launched an investigation. Nevertheless, Park Ho-jin continued to appear on the air and complained about his injustice, and shouted out that Fantastic Investment had no problem.
However, as the investigation began in earnest, he was arrested at Incheon International Airport while trying to depart for Singapore on the pretext of attracting investment.
Prosecutors charged him with violating the Capital Market and Financial Investment Business Act.
The results revealed that the business plan was sloppy and the size of the assets was exaggerated. The building used for the Cheongdam-dong mansion and office was rented on a monthly basis, and the Bugatti was purchased by lease. Unfortunately, it could not be repaired, so it was parked in a parking lot recently.
The scam was simple. After he spread false information through broadcasts or lectures, he bought unlisted stocks at a bargain price and sold them back to investors at tens or hundreds of times the price to get unfair profits.
The media was most responsible for this. Although introducing him as an over-the-counter equity investment expert, he has not undergone even minimal verification.
Those who watched the broadcast and invested in Park Ho-jin were stunned. When he was arrested, the media outlets that had been floating in the meantime shut their mouths all at once.
* * *
The number of victims is 5,000. The amount of damage exceeded 100 billion won.
It turned out that the over-the-counter stocks that Park Ho-jin sold were worthless if they just went public. These are companies that are likely to go bankrupt, rather than go public.
Victims rushed to get their money back, but Park Ho-jin had already received a foreclosure and he did not repay the money, saying he had no money. However, he entrusted the defense to Jung & Kim, the largest law firm in Korea, to form a luxurious defense team of ten lawyers.
This is one of the problems of financial fraud.
Victims are worried about their livelihood because they have no money, but the perpetrators hire public defenders with the money they scammed. In effect, you are defending yourself with the victims’ money.
Taek-gyu looked at Park Ho-jin, who was arrested, and said.
“Jeil Gold Coin and Fantastic Investment. Why are there so many scammers in this country?”
“Because Korea is tolerant of financial crime.”
This is also a big cultural difference. In developed countries, trust is more important. Therefore, they are strictly held accountable for actions that break trust. If the amount of damage exceeds a certain level, life imprisonment is sometimes imposed.
However, in Korea, even if you make more than 10 billion won, it’s over when you live a few years. Some people cheat and then hide their money and turn themselves in. If you surrender, your brother will be relieved. After being released from prison, he is living with the hidden money.
In order to prevent this, Korea should also increase the sentence for financial offenses. They have to rot in prison for two or thirty years, so what’s the use of the billions out there?
I shook my head.
“In a way, financial criminals are worse than murderers. A murderer kills one or two at best, but a financial criminal destroys countless families and drives families to commit suicide.”
