Woori Bank in hot seat over new 10 billion won embezzlement case

Woori Bank logo is shown at the bank's main branch in Jung District, central Seoul, on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

Woori Bank has found itself in hot water again with yet another embezzlement case amounting to 10 billion won ($7.3 million) becoming public, two years after a massive 70-billion-won incident at the bank came to light.

The Financial Security Service (FSS) launched an on-site investigation into the bank on Wednesday, according to the financial regulator, as an employee in their 30s was found to have misappropriated loans worth about 10 billion won.

The unnamed employee turned themselves into the police on Monday after Woori Bank detected abnormal activities through internal monitoring and demanded that they respond to the allegation.

The employee, who worked for a branch in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang, is alleged to have forged loan application documents to embezzle funds starting earlier this year. The money was used to invest in cryptocurrencies and overseas futures, reportedly dwindling by around 6 billion won so far.

Woori Bank was previously embroiled in a major embezzlement scandal after an employee was found to have misappropriated some 70 billion won over a span of eight years in April 2022. They was sentenced to a prison term of 15 years in April of this year.

The FSS also issued a warning and imposed a penalty of 878 million won against the bank over the 2022 incident in January.

The latest scandal is once again raising concerns over Woori Bank’s integrity despite efforts to bolster internal control, as Woori Financial Group Chairman Yim Jong-yong, who took office last March, has been rolling out new measures and plans to refine its internal control system since July.

“Woori Bank will conduct a thorough investigation into the issue to identify problems in the loan application process, and prevent similar cases in the future,” said a bank spokesperson.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]