Meritz Asset Management Employee Embezzles Client Funds... Employee Dismissed and Prosecuted

Unauthorized Withdrawal of 720 Million KRW Over 6 Days
Embezzlement After Arrival... Re-deposited Before Leaving
No Damage to Company
Detected in Meritz Asset Management Internal Audit

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] An embezzlement incident occurred where a Meritz Asset Management employee withdrew customer funds without authorization.

According to the financial investment industry on the 7th, Meritz Asset Management discovered through an internal audit that employee A had withdrawn 720 million KRW from March 18 to June 14.

Employee A withdrew customer funds by transferring money from the company account to a personal account in the morning and then depositing it back into the company account in the afternoon. However, Meritz Asset Management explained that there was no damage to the company as the unauthorized withdrawals were repaid on the same day.

Meritz Asset Management immediately reported the employee's embezzlement to the Financial Supervisory Service and launched a thorough internal investigation.

Under current law, financial companies must report internal embezzlement incidents to financial authorities within one week of discovery. The Financial Supervisory Service plans to receive the final investigation results after Meritz Asset Management completes its internal investigation.

The reason the Financial Supervisory Service did not immediately conduct an on-site investigation is believed to be because the embezzled amount was not considered large compared to the embezzlement incident (approximately 61.4 billion KRW) that occurred earlier this year at Woori Bank.

Additionally, the fact that employee A replenished the embezzled amount back into the account balance before leaving work, resulting in minimal actual damage to the company, also appears to have influenced this decision.