Former Woori Bank Employee Accused of Embezzling 17.7 Billion Won in Loans Admits Charges at First Trial

A former employee of Woori Bank's Gyeongnam branch, who was indicted and detained on charges of embezzling customer loan funds worth over 10 billion KRW by falsifying documents, admitted to the charges at the first trial.

The Criminal Division 2 of the Changwon District Court held the first hearing on the case of Mr. A, a man in his 30s who was brought to trial on charges including fraud, on the 3rd.

At the trial, Mr. A's defense attorney responded "Yes" when asked by the court whether they acknowledge all the charges.

Changwon District Court, Gyeongnam.
Photo by Lee Seryoung

Mr. A is accused of applying for fraudulent loans under the names of 17 customers, including individuals and companies, on 35 occasions from July last year to May this year, and embezzling a total of 17.77 billion KRW in loan funds.

Between July and September last year, he contacted two individual loan customers and deceived them by saying, "We need to temporarily withdraw the deposited loan funds to complete the remaining loan procedures," and received 220 million KRW into an acquaintance's account.

He was found to have forged loan application documents, such as credit transaction agreements, by using customers' names and sent them to the bank's headquarters staff.

It was revealed that most of the embezzled money was invested in overseas futures and cryptocurrencies.

Woori Bank, which attended the trial, submitted a petition requesting severe punishment for Mr. A.

The next hearing for this case is scheduled for October 15 at 3:40 p.m., during which the defendant will be interrogated.