Another savings bank CEO kills self

3rd suicide since prosecution begins probe into irregularities

By Kim Rahn

The head of a savings bank allegedly committed suicide Thursday ahead of being questioned over illegal loans.

Kim Hak-heon, 57, chairman of Ace Mutual Savings Bank, was found dead in a room at the Seoul Palace Hotel in southern Seoul at around 8 a.m., police said, adding that he had presumably hanged himself.

This is the third suicide by officials of savings banks since September when a team of investigators from the prosecution launched an intensive probe into alleged financial irregularities in the secondary banking sector.

“Kim was already dead when found at the hotel, and we suspect he choked to death after hanging himself with his necktie from a smoke detector installed in the ceiling. There were scars on his body presumed to be self-inflicted, and an empty bottle of whiskey was found in the room,” a member of the investigation team said.

“According to his family, he has stayed in the hotel since Monday but had dinner together with them Wednesday. As he did not make contact, one of his relatives searched for him and found the body,” he said.

Kim was scheduled to present himself to the prosecution for questioning in the morning. Prosecutors had called him three times but he requested they delay their summons, citing family affairs.

“It seems he was under tremendous pressure while facing the summons. We express condolences to the bereaved family,” the investigator said.

A suicide note was found in which he had written he felt victimized and apologized to his family for deciding to commit suicide, police said.

Kim was suspected of illegally lending some 690 billion won ($596 million) to a builder of a terminal construction project in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. He earlier told the investigators through his lawyer that he didn’t know any of the details about the loan.

Prosecutors found the head of the construction firm spent part of the illegal loan on buying high-end brand clothes and imported cars. Two high-ranking officials of the bank were arrested in November on charges of making the loan.

The bank also allegedly falsified account books for three years.

Last year, two other savings bank executives committed suicide while a prosecution investigation of them was underway. In September, Jeil 2 Mutual Savings Bank President Jeong Gu-haeng leaped to his death from the bank headquarters in central Seoul while investigators were searching the bank.

In November, an executive director of Tomato 2 Savings Bank, surnamed Cha, was found hanged in a building in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. Tomato 2 was not under investigation, but Cha was being looked into for his previous involvement in irregularities at an affiliate, Tomato Savings Bank.

The operations of seven secondary lenders have been suspended since September due to poor finance and irregularities. They are Ace, Jeil, Jeil 2, Tomato, Prime, Daeyeong and Parangsae.