Case expected to dent credibility of nation's No. 4 commercial bank
By Yi Whan-woo
A Woori Bank employee was arrested for allegedly embezzling more than 60 billion won ($47.1 million) from the bank, according to police and the lender, Thursday.
The amount is far more than that of other financial crimes involving banks in the past, according to financial authorities, which points to the possibility of the country's fourth-largest bank potentially having a serious defect in securely managing money.
The incident is expected to dent the bank's credibility, especially considering it is responsible for handling money in a stricter manner as one of the nation's first-tier lenders.
"A police investigation is underway. We will be notified with the exact amount of embezzlement and other details as the investigation proceeds," a public relations representative of Woori Bank said.
The suspect, identified as a male employee hired by the bank for more than 10 years, has a history of working at Woori Bank headquarters' corporate division dealing with companies that are financially troubled and require corporate restructuring.
He allegedly stole the company's funds three times and transferred the money to his private banking account opened with a different bank between 2012 and 2018.
The alleged embezzled amount is estimated to be 61.4 billion won, which is believed to be part of the money that Woori Bank confiscated from an involved party abroad for breaching 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 learned about the case after running an internal investigation recently. It reported the case to the police early Wednesday after the suspect avoided phone calls and went missing.
The suspect turned himself in to Namdaemun Police Station in central Seoul at around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and was arrested.
His younger brother, who is suspected of being an accomplice, also turned himself in. They are suspected of spending some of the embezzled money to buy stocks.
"We will consider seeking a court arrest warrant after investigating details of this case," a police officer said.
The officer added the method of the embezzlement this time is similar to that of a suspect who has been charged with embezzling 221 billion won from dental implant maker Osstem Implant early this year.
Financial industry insiders appeared to be shocked by the sheer size of the money that was allegedly embezzled.
"This is the first time I heard about a case of embezzlement worth more than 60 billion won," an employee at a different bank said on condition of anonymity. "The case is even more shocking considering it took place not at a branch office, but at the headquarters of a bank where security is supposed to be extremely tight."
According to financial authorities, no other commercial bank has ever experienced financial crimes involving such a large amount of money in a single case.
In 2021, a total of eight cases of fraud worth 600 million won were reported for all the banks in Korea.
During the cited period, three other cases were linked to breach of trust with the amount lost standing at 4.19 billion won, while there were also 16 cases of embezzlement worth 6.76 billion won.
Taking the serious nature of Woori Bank's embezzlement case, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said it will also conduct its own investigation into the lender.
"A considerable amount of money is involved in this case, and the fact that such a crime has happened at a major bank is something that cannot be overlooked," an FSS official said.
By Yi Whan-woo
A Woori Bank employee was arrested for allegedly embezzling more than 60 billion won ($47.1 million) from the bank, according to police and the lender, Thursday.
The amount is far more than that of other financial crimes involving banks in the past, according to financial authorities, which points to the possibility of the country's fourth-largest bank potentially having a serious defect in securely managing money.
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| Woori Bank's headquarters in central Seoul / Korea Times file |
"A police investigation is underway. We will be notified with the exact amount of embezzlement and other details as the investigation proceeds," a public relations representative of Woori Bank said.
The suspect, identified as a male employee hired by the bank for more than 10 years, has a history of working at Woori Bank headquarters' corporate division dealing with companies that are financially troubled and require corporate restructuring.
He allegedly stole the company's funds three times and transferred the money to his private banking account opened with a different bank between 2012 and 2018.
The alleged embezzled amount is estimated to be 61.4 billion won, which is believed to be part of the money that Woori Bank confiscated from an involved party abroad for breaching 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 learned about the case after running an internal investigation recently. It reported the case to the police early Wednesday after the suspect avoided phone calls and went missing.
The suspect turned himself in to Namdaemun Police Station in central Seoul at around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday and was arrested.
His younger brother, who is suspected of being an accomplice, also turned himself in. They are suspected of spending some of the embezzled money to buy stocks.
"We will consider seeking a court arrest warrant after investigating details of this case," a police officer said.
The officer added the method of the embezzlement this time is similar to that of a suspect who has been charged with embezzling 221 billion won from dental implant maker Osstem Implant early this year.
Financial industry insiders appeared to be shocked by the sheer size of the money that was allegedly embezzled.
"This is the first time I heard about a case of embezzlement worth more than 60 billion won," an employee at a different bank said on condition of anonymity. "The case is even more shocking considering it took place not at a branch office, but at the headquarters of a bank where security is supposed to be extremely tight."
According to financial authorities, no other commercial bank has ever experienced financial crimes involving such a large amount of money in a single case.
In 2021, a total of eight cases of fraud worth 600 million won were reported for all the banks in Korea.
During the cited period, three other cases were linked to breach of trust with the amount lost standing at 4.19 billion won, while there were also 16 cases of embezzlement worth 6.76 billion won.
Taking the serious nature of Woori Bank's embezzlement case, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said it will also conduct its own investigation into the lender.
"A considerable amount of money is involved in this case, and the fact that such a crime has happened at a major bank is something that cannot be overlooked," an FSS official said.
