South Korea: Woori Bank Employee Charged With Embezzling Company Funds to Buy Crypto

South Korean prosecutors have charged an employee of the bank Woori with embezzlement-related offenses after he admitted stealing company money to spend on crypto.

The unnamed man, in his 30s, worked as an assistant manager in the corporate loans department at a Woori branch in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province.

Woori Bank Employee ‘Forged Loan Documents to Fuel Crypto Buying Spree’

In June, he confessed he had stolen some $7.3 million worth of the bank’s funds. He said he spent most of the money on crypto investments.

The man also said that most of his crypto investments had resulted in “failure.” The man told police officers he had embezzled the money on June 10 after the bank realized money was missing from accounts.

Police handed the case to the Changwon District Prosecutors’ Office. A spokesperson for the office said the manager will now face trial.

Prosecutors said he had actually embezzled a figure closer to $13 million. He did so “by forging loan documents in the names of individuals and corporations,” officials said.

A spokesperson for the office said the man used similar rouses to steal money “on 35 occasions over 10 months starting in July last year.”

The prosecutors claimed that the man arranged to “have the loan proceeds transferred to an acquaintance’s account.”

South Korea is increasing pressure on local crypto exchanges to root out questionable trading, part of efforts to improve investor protection with a new digital-asset law https://t.co/gugkxNjjbI

— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) July 4, 2024

Man ‘Stole Money from Bank’s Customers to Buy Crypto’

Officers also think the man stole almost $160,000 worth of loans from two of the bank’s personal loan customers.

They think he transferred the customers’ money “into an acquaintance’s account on four occasions over two months starting in July last year.”

Police think the man duped the customers by telling them that he needed to “temporarily withdraw” the money to complete their loan procedures.

Prosecutors think the man spent a total of $10.8 million of the money he stole “to buy virtual assets.”

Officers added that they were still “analyzing” the man’s phone records. They say they want to “determine if there were any accomplices.”

Woori is one of South Korea’s largest commercial banks. Its investment arm owns a share of the blockchain firm Dunmau, which operates the Upbit crypto exchange.