The prosecution summoned Son Tae-seung, former chairman of Woori Financial Group, for two consecutive days in connection with allegations of improper loans to relatives. It is expected that an arrest warrant will be requested soon.
According to the legal community on the 21st, the Financial Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Su-hong) summoned former Chairman Son in the morning for questioning as a suspect. The prosecution is reportedly investigating charges including violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (breach of trust). Former Chairman Son is known to have appeared for questioning from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. the previous day as well.
The prosecution is expected to verify whether former Chairman Son was involved in the process where Woori Bank executed improper loans amounting to hundreds of billions of won to corporations or individual business owners related to Son's relatives from April 2020 to January this year. Some of these improper loans were made during Son's tenure.
It is reported that former Chairman Son denies most of the charges. Accordingly, the prosecution is likely to request an arrest warrant for him soon.
In relation to this, the prosecution is also investigating current executives including Lim Jong-ryong, chairman of Woori Financial Group, and Cho Byung-kyu, president of Woori Bank. It is believed that the executives were aware of the illegal loans but failed to properly report them to financial authorities.
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