Prosecutors Seek Arrest Warrant for Accomplice of Gyeongnam Bank Employee in 100 Billion Won Embezzlement Case

The prosecution investigating the embezzlement suspicion involving 100 billion won by a BNK Gyeongnam Bank employee has moved to secure the custody of an accomplice.

A embezzlement incident involving real estate project financing loans worth approximately 56 billion KRW occurred at BNK Gyeongnam Bank. The photo shows a BNK Gyeongnam Bank branch in downtown Seoul on the 3rd. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Crime Proceeds Recovery Division (Chief Prosecutor Lim Se-jin) announced on the 28th that it has requested an arrest warrant for Hwang Mo (52), an employee of a securities company who conspired with the main suspect, Lee Mo (51), head of the Investment Finance Department at Gyeongnam Bank, on charges of embezzlement under the Specific Economic Crimes Act and instigation of evidence destruction.

Hwang, who graduated from the same high school as Lee, is accused of conspiring to embezzle approximately 61.7 billion won in project financing (PF) loans from August 2016 to October 2021 by impersonating an employee of a real estate development company and arbitrarily creating withdrawal slips. When the Financial Supervisory Service began investigating the embezzlement suspicion in July, he is also accused of instructing an acquaintance to format the PC used by Lee to destroy evidence.

The prosecution arrested Lee on the 23rd and is investigating the specific details and scale of the embezzlement. The Financial Supervisory Service, which initially investigated the case, stated that the company funds embezzled and misappropriated by Lee amounted to about 56.2 billion won. However, the prosecution estimates that Lee's embezzlement amount could reach up to approximately 110 billion won.