Lee Yeon-woo is a financial journalist at The Korea Times. Her wide range of reporting includes policies, macroeconomics, stock market, companies and even crypto. She is passionate about connecting the dots in Korean finance and making it easier for foreign nationals to understand. Based on her previous experience as a national reporter, she also has a keen interest in social issues within the sector, including gender equality and ESG. Your tips and insights are always appreciated. You can send them to yanu@koreatimes.co.kr.
More embezzlement uncovered at Woori Bank
Woori Financial Group headquarters in Seoul / Yonhap
By Lee Yeon-woo
Woori Bank discovered another of its employees who was involved in embezzlement, approximately two years after a 70 billion won ($50.83 million) embezzlement case made headlines.
According to sources, Tuesday, Woori Bank found that 10 billion won had been embezzled at a branch located in South Gyeongsang Province. The bank is investigating the details of the case and the exact amount of the losses.
An employee at the branch had reportedly forged documents related to loans and deposits, and invested in overseas securities futures. Losses from the investment are extimated to be around 6 billion won.
Woori Bank explained that the transactions were uncovered through its own internal control system. The bank detected unusual trading activity, so it asked the employee to explain the case and requested the team leader to verify the transactions. It also dispatched a special investigation team to recover the funds.
As the investigation began, the employee turned himself in to the police.
This comes as yet another embezzlement incident at Woori Bank. Earlier in 2022, an employee who had worked at the bank for more than 10 years was found to have embezzled approximately 70 billion won, making headlines nationwide.
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Due to the significant amount involved, the Financial Supervisory Service stated it will conduct a field inspection of the branch at the earliest date possible.
Woori Bank vowed to prevent any recurrence.
"We will conduct a thorough investigation to identify the problem in the loan process and prevent similar cases from occurring," an official from Woori Bank said. "We will also strictly reprimand the employee and provide education to all employees to raise awareness of our internal systems."