[Woori Bank Embezzlement] Woori Bank Employee Who Embezzled 61.4 Billion KRW Appears for Detention Hearing

Embezzlement Amount Shared with Brother: 50 Billion and 10 Billion Used Separately
Brother Also Expected to Have Arrest Warrant Requested Soon

Employee A of Woori Bank, who was charged with embezzling 61.4 billion won of company funds, is entering the courtroom at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-dong, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 30th to undergo a pre-arrest detention hearing. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] An employee of Woori Bank who embezzled 61.4 billion KRW of company funds has appeared.

Woori Bank employee Mr. A attended the Seoul Central District Court at 1:40 PM on the 30th to appear for the pre-trial detention hearing. When asked by reporters about the use of the embezzled funds and the reason for turning himself in, he only replied, "I am sorry," before entering the court. The result of the detention hearing is expected to be announced later that afternoon.

Mr. A was urgently arrested by the police on the 28th on suspicion of embezzling approximately 61.4 billion KRW of company funds in three separate instances between 2012 and 2018 (under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes).

Having worked at Woori Bank for over 10 years, Mr. A was at the deputy general manager level and was in the Corporate Improvement Department at the time of the embezzlement. Most of the embezzled funds were identified as contract deposits that Woori Bank had to return to Entekhap, an Iranian home appliance company involved in the sale of the former Daewoo Electronics.

During the investigation of the fund flow through Mr. A’s accounts, the police also found clues that some of the embezzled money flowed into business funds of Mr. A’s younger brother, Mr. B. Consequently, Mr. B was also arrested the day before on the same charges. It is known that Mr. B suffered losses of over 8 billion KRW while promoting a golf resort development project in New Zealand. It is estimated that Mr. A spent about 50 billion KRW and Mr. B about 10 billion KRW of the embezzled amount. The police plan to apply for a detention warrant for Mr. B as early as this afternoon.

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