[Exclusive] Bold Woori Bank Embezzlement Employee Forged Financial Services Commission Documents to Conceal Crime

Embezzling Employee Worked Unusually Long in Corporate Improvement Department
Turns Out to Have Fabricated Financial Services Commission Official Document to Keep 'Mr. A' in Position
"It Was a Document the FSC Would Never Send, Should Have Been Suspicious"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] It has been revealed that Mr. A, an employee of Woori Bank who embezzled around 60 billion KRW, forged documents from the Financial Services Commission (FSC). Thanks to the fake FSC documents, Mr. A was able to remain in the Corporate Improvement Department and conceal his crimes for a long period.

According to the financial sector on the 17th, in 2017, Mr. A delivered a document fabricated to appear as if it was created by the FSC to the company. The document contained a statement instructing that Mr. A remain in the Corporate Improvement Department of Woori Bank. Considering the usual personnel rotation cycle in the banking sector, this was a time when Mr. A should have been transferred to another department. Since transferring departments could have exposed his embezzlement during the handover process, it appears to have been an attempt to prevent that. Woori Bank did not suspect the authenticity of the document.

Typically, bank branches rotate employees every 2 to 3 years. Even in head office departments handling money, no specific employee is kept for more than five years due to the risk of financial accidents. However, Mr. A worked for over 10 years, spending a long time in the Corporate Improvement Department. This raised many suspicions in the financial sector about how Mr. A could remain in one department for such an extended period.

Since the end of April, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), which is conducting an inspection at Woori Bank, is also reportedly examining the head office’s work system and related matters. This is to understand how long-term employment was possible and whether procedures were properly followed. A financial authority official said, “Because corporate sale tasks are complex and Mr. A was in charge of the Daewoo Electronics sale, the bank probably did not doubt the FSC’s retention letter.”

As a result, the financial sector points out that Woori Bank’s Corporate Improvement Department’s personnel management was inappropriate and that the system did not function properly. The act of the financial authorities requesting the retention of a specific employee by official letter is close to personnel intervention and is virtually impossible. A financial sector official hinted, “The FSC never recommends appointing or retaining specific personnel in private banks, and Woori Bank should have naturally found this suspicious and questioned it.”

Criticism has also been raised that the suspicious FSC document was not properly scrutinized, which exacerbated the damage. In fact, the amount of damage from the embezzlement appears to have increased because Mr. A remained in the Corporate Improvement Department for a long time. Mr. A embezzled 61.4 billion KRW in three installments starting from 2012, with the last embezzlement occurring in June 2018, which is after the time he forged the FSC document.

Most of the embezzled funds were used for risky stock index option investments and golf course businesses. Mr. A has been indicted on charges including embezzlement and overseas transfer of assets under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes. The court has currently frozen the assets of Mr. A and his family members.

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