A Seoul court on Thursday ordered a local securities firm to compensate its investors for deceiving them into buying fraudulent corporate bonds and commercial papers.
  

The Seoul Central District Court said Tongyang Securities Co. is to compensate six plaintiffs, out of 19 in total, amounts ranging from some 1.7 million won ($1,560) to 25 million won each.
  

The company failed in the first round of restructuring on Aug. 20, 2013 but issued corporate bonds and recommended investment about a week later with knowledge that it would be unable to pay them off, the court said.
  

For three investors who bought the bonds on Aug. 28, 2013, the court said Tongyang is liable to recoup for the losses.
  

"But, considering the plaintiffs' investment experience, a number of news reports worrying the Tongyang Group between August and September 2013, as well as the fact that risks were explained in the application forms, the liability should be limited to 80 percent," Judge Oh Young-joon said.
  

For the other three, the liability remained in the 20 to 30 percent range.
  

The court dismissed the remaining 13 plaintiffs' demand for compensation, citing lack of evidence to prove that they were fooled into betting on troubled debts.
  

Last year, the head of Tongyang Group was found guilty of ordering the group's affiliates to issue 1.3 trillion won worth of bonds and commercial papers between February and September 2013 even though he knew the companies would not be able to pay off their debts.
  

More than 40,000 individual investors are estimated to have lost their investment money.
  

Tongyang Securities was sold to Taiwanese brokerage house Yuanta Securities in June 2014. (Yonhap)