National Tax Service Launches Special Tax Probe into Meritz Securities... Consecutive Investigations into Hana Financial and Other Financial Institutions

Seoul Regional Tax Office's Fourth Investigation Bureau Secures Accounting Records at Yeouido Headquarters

The National Tax Service has launched a special (non-routine) tax investigation into Meritz Securities. Following last week's investigations into Hana Bank and Hana Financial Group, there is growing speculation in the financial sector that the National Tax Service's tax probes may be expanding across the entire financial industry.

According to financial industry sources on May 11, the Fourth Investigation Bureau of the Seoul Regional Tax Office dispatched investigators to the headquarters of Meritz Securities in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, to secure accounting records and other materials required for the tax investigation.

The Fourth Investigation Bureau is in charge of non-routine tax audits, such as those concerning corporate tax evasion suspicions, in addition to regular investigations. In this context, it is reported that the National Tax Service launched the probe after detecting signs that Meritz Securities may have evaded taxes.

Meritz Securities was subjected to an on-site inspection by the Financial Supervisory Service in 2024 over allegations that the company abused its superior position to charge excessive fees during the process of extending project financing (PF) loans. In addition, a former executive was put on trial on charges of receiving illegal loans worth tens of billions of won from another financial institution under the pretext of real estate investment funds for a family-owned company while still employed, and was sentenced to prison at the first trial in January.

Regarding this investigation, the National Tax Service stated, "We cannot confirm information about individual tax investigations."

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