Shinhan manager indicted for fraud

By Kim Jae-won

The head of a Shinahn Bank branch in Gyeonggi Province for his involvement in financial fraud, dealing a definitive blow to the lender’s credibility and ability to monitor irregularities, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said Thursday.

According to the regulator, the Shinhan manager forged letters of guarantee for payment at the request of a gasoline retailer, who used the fake bank certificates in 100 billion won worth of business transactions between March 2011 and April this year. The Shinhan manager received 1 billion won.

The FSS didn’t release the name of the manager or the branch he worked in.

``We found out the fraud case and informed Shinhan in May. The bank fired the manager and referred the case to prosecutors. The prosecution indicted him and the trial is ongoing,” said Kim Young-ju, an FSS official.

FSS said that Shinhan should be held responsible for failing to uncover the wrongdoings of its employee. According to the authorities, an in-house audit team knew that the manager received money through his bank accounts, but didn’t look at his records closely, believing his story that he was just handling a fund investment for a relative.

The FSS also imposed 375 million won of fines on the bank for neglecting its duty to make its documents open to the public.