Employee of Woori Bank Arrested for Embezzlement of 61.4 Billion Won, Younger Brother Also Subject to Arrest Warrant Request

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A Woori Bank employee, Mr. A, accused of embezzling 61.4 billion won of company funds, has been detained.

On the afternoon of the 30th, Judge Yang Hwansung of the Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for Mr. A on charges of embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.

Judge Yang stated the reason for detention as "concerns over evidence destruction and flight risk."

Mr. A attended the pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant substantive examination) at the Seoul Central District Court at 1:40 p.m. that day. When asked by reporters about the use of the embezzled funds and reasons for surrender, he only replied, "I am sorry," before entering the court.

Earlier, Mr. A was urgently arrested by the police on the 28th on suspicion of embezzling approximately 61.4 billion won of company funds in three instances between 2012 and 2018.

Having worked at Woori Bank for over 10 years, Mr. A was at the deputy general manager level and was part of 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 fund flows through Mr. A's accounts, the police also found clues that some of the embezzled money was funneled into business funds of Mr. A's younger brother, Mr. B. Mr. B was also arrested the previous day on the same charges. It is known that Mr. B suffered losses of over 8 billion won while promoting a golf resort development project in New Zealand. It is estimated that Mr. A spent about 50 billion won and Mr. B about 10 billion won from the embezzled amount.

The police also applied for an arrest warrant for Mr. B on the same day. Mr. B's warrant substantive examination is scheduled to be held as early as the 1st of next month.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.