Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
Woori Bank embezzlement suspect stole far more than previously estimated: financial watchdog
A press briefing on an embezzlement case linked to Woori Bank is held at the Financial Supervisor Service (FSS) headquarters on Yeouido, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap
By Yi Whan-woo
By Yi Whan-woo
A Woori Bank employee who was arrested recently for embezzlement took far more money than the prosecution had originally concluded when it pressed charges against him in May, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said, Tuesday.
The FSS said the case reveals Woori Bank had a serious defect in its self-regulatory control system when securely managing customers' money.
The amount allegedly embezzled by the employee, identified as a male employee who had worked at the bank for more than 10 years, turned out to be 69.7 billion won ($53.2 million), up from the original figure of 61.4 billion won discovered by the prosecution earlier.
The suspect was working at Woori Bank's corporate division dealing with companies that are financially troubled and require corporate restructuring.
He allegedly stole the 69.7 billion won through eight separate attempts and transferred the money to his private banking account opened with a different bank between October 2012 and June 2020.
The money in question was related to a merger deal concerning the now-dissolved Daewoo Electronics.
The bank led the M&A deal of Daewoo Electronics, now renamed Winia Electronics under Dayou Group, from 2010 to 2011.
Woori Bank only became aware of the incident following an internal investigation this year and he was arrested in April.
The alleged embezzlement, according to the FSS, was made possible because the bank did not have a screening system to prevent him from forging documents, stealing PIN codes and other illegal activities to withdraw money.
“The suspect should be blamed for the incident, but the bank is still responsible for failing to notice crimes in advance that cost nearly 70 billion won,” the FSS said.
The FSS said it will run a task force jointly with the Financial Services Commission (FSC), which oversees the FSS, and enhance criteria for self-regulatory controls of the banks and other risk management factors.