The prosecution, which is investigating allegations of unfair loans to relatives of the former chairman of Woori Financial Group, has begun to secure the custody of a former Woori Bank branch manager suspected of leading the loans.
According to the legal community on the 25th, the Financial Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors’ Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Soo-hong) requested an arrest warrant for former Woori Bank branch manager Lim, who is accused of breach of trust and embezzlement under the Aggravated Punishment Act for Specific Economic Crimes.
The view in front of Woori Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. Yonhap News
Former Chief Lim is accused of being involved in unfair lending after becoming acquainted with Mr. Kim, the brother-in-law of former Woori Financial Group Chairman Son Tae-seung, while serving as the head of Woori Bank’s Shindorim Financial Center and Seolleung Financial Center.
The previous day, the prosecution arrested and indicted former Chairman Son’s brother-in-law, Mr. Kim, on charges of embezzlement, forgery of private documents, and use of forged private documents under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes.
Mr. Kim is accused of misusing company funds in his wife’s name, forging real estate contracts purchased through the company to inflate the acquisition price, and then using this to obtain excessive loans from Woori Bank.
The prosecution is conducting an investigation based on the Financial Supervisory Service’s inspection results showing that Woori Bank provided 35 billion won in unfair loans to corporate and individual business borrowers related to former Chairman Sohn’s relatives between April 2020 and January of this year.
On the 27th of last month, the prosecution also searched and seized eight offices, including the credit supervision department of Woori Bank’s headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, the Sindorim Financial Center in Guro-gu, and the Seolleung Financial Center in Gangnam-gu.
Reporter Kim Joo-young bueno@segye.com
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