'61.4 Billion Embezzlement' Woori Bank Employee's Brother Detained for Custody Hearing... "Not a Planned Crime"

Denial of Accomplice Charges: "I Did Not Know the Source of the Funds"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] The younger brother of an employee accused of embezzling 61.4 billion KRW from Woori Bank in three separate instances appeared for a pre-trial detention hearing on the 1st.

At around 1:26 PM that day, Mr. A, dressed in a black tracksuit and wearing a black cap pulled low, appeared at the Seoul Central District Court. When asked by reporters whether he had planned the crime with his older brother from the beginning and whether the money was used for a golf course business, he denied the allegations, saying "No."

When asked if he knew the source of the funds, he replied, "I did not."

Mr. A is accused of conspiring with his older brother, Woori Bank employee Mr. B, to embezzle a total of 61.4 billion KRW (embezzlement under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes).

The police, while investigating the account transactions of Mr. B, who surrendered to the police on the 27th of last month, discovered clues that some of the embezzled funds had flowed into Mr. A's business funds, leading to Mr. A's emergency arrest the following day.

It is known that Mr. A received about 10 billion KRW from his brother and pursued a golf resort business in New Zealand, suffering a loss of approximately 8 billion KRW.

Most of the funds embezzled by the two are understood to be contract deposits that Woori Bank had to return to Entakhap, an Iranian home appliance company involved in a contract after the failed sale of Daewoo Electronics in the past.

The decision on whether to detain Mr. A is expected to be made late in the afternoon of the same day.

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