Weeks of bank withdrawals probed

Prosecutors investigating massive illegal withdrawals from Busan Savings Bank on Feb. 16, the day before it was suspended, have started looking into withdrawals made in the weeks before after discovering that financial regulators made the decision to suspend the bank on Jan. 25.

Woo Byung-woo, a prosecutor from the central investigation unit of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, said in a press briefing yesterday that his team will expand its investigation into customers who withdrew money from the bank between Jan. 25 and Feb. 15 to see if they were leaked inside information about the suspension.

The probe into withdrawals made on Feb. 16 continues.

“It was confirmed that a task force team of officials from the Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Financial Supervisory Service and the Financial Services Commission reviewed liquidity conditions of savings banks at a meeting on Jan. 25, and it decided to suspend Busan Savings Bank,” Woo told reporters. “It’s likely that information was leaked after the meeting.”

But the Financial Services Commission denied the prosecutor’s assertion and said it only decided to suspend Busan Savings Bank on Feb. 16.

Prosecutors will question customers who withdrew over 50 million won ($46,512) between Jan. 25 and Feb. 15.

In case of a bank’s collapse or suspension, deposits under 50 million won are guaranteed by the Korea Deposit Insurance Corp.

“We will focus on investigating how the information about the suspension was leaked during the 20 days before the suspension,” said another prosecutor at the central investigation unit of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office. “Our position is that anyone who is found to have been involved in the leaking of inside information will be investigated regardless of the person’s rank.”

Woo said, “People who withdrew under 50 million won can also be investigated if they turn out to have other accounts under fake names in the bank.”

Meanwhile, the Financial Services Commission released a statement yesterday flatly denying the prosecution’s claim that its task force decided on the suspension at the Jan. 25 meeting.

“The task force was examining the extent of deposit withdrawals and the liquidity of the bank every day because there were reported cases of bank runs since Samhwa Savings Bank was suspended on Jan. 14,” read the FSC statement. “In the Jan. 25 meeting, the officials calculated how long savings banks could continue operating if the bank runs continued and discussed ways to add liquidity to the savings banks.”

The FSC said its task force reached a decision to suspend Busan Savings Bank on Feb. 16.

The FSC also said it concluded that the bank could no longer be able to operate on Feb. 16.

By Cho Kang-soo, Kim Mi-ju [mijukim@joongang.co.kr]

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