Employees of a financial institution, including executives, have been sentenced to prison for forging supporting documents and inflating appraisal values to carry out fraudulent loans totaling approximately 11.5 billion won.
The 11th Criminal Division of the Gwangju District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Songhyun) on December 22 sentenced Mr. A (55), the branch manager of a local livestock cooperative in Gwangju, who was indicted on charges of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, to five years in prison, a fine of 50 million won, and ordered the forfeiture of 15.88 million won.
The deputy branch manager (44) of the same cooperative, who was indicted alongside Mr. A, was sentenced to three years in prison, suspended for five years, and fined 19 million won.
Six other defendants, including the president of a local savings bank and a loan broker who were accomplices, received prison sentences ranging from six months to three years, all suspended for two to five years.
Mr. A and others were indicted for forging and altering supporting documents from 2021 to last year, executing fraudulent loans totaling approximately 11.5 billion won.
They forged documents such as sales contracts and bank transaction statements, and conspired with appraisers to create false appraisal reports. The broker who solicited the series of loans took money as a commission in the process.
The court stated, "Although the scale and methods of the crime are serious, we took into account that the loans have already been repaid or are in the process of being repaid, and that the victimized financial institutions do not wish to pursue punishment."
This case came to light after prosecutors investigating and indicting irregularities at a local savings bank in Gwangju uncovered additional offenses involving the bank president and broker. The bank president and broker are currently facing separate trials.
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