Employee Confesses to Embezzlement
A staff member at Woori Bank, a South Korean financial institution, has reportedly admitted to the police that he dishonestly took around $7.3 million from the bank to fund his cryptocurrency portfolio. Nevertheless, the majority of them turned into losing ventures. Based on the news of the recent local news outlet, the individual, who is not identified, paid a visit to the West Gimhae Police Station located in South Gyeongsang Province on June 10th to expose the severe extent of the felony actions.
Failed Crypto Investments
Furthermore, the investigators unfolded that the employee in his thirties had utilized the thieved money in crypto businesses in the hope of getting personal benefits. In contrast to this, the majority of those businesses did not pan out, and as a result, the employee suffered a $4.35 million loss out of the stolens ores.
Police and Bank Response
In reply to these disclosures, the police of South Korea, in charge of the case, have initiated their investigations into the theft by intensifying their research efforts. They have partnered with Woori Bank to gather more data and are likely to apply for an arrest warrant soon. However, the bank discovered the misallocation of the money by its own internal monitoring systems already before the employee disclosed it. The money was identified as stolen funds, which were withdrawn from accounts, loans, and other operations.
Cooperation and Future Measures
The information from the spokesman for the police was that the employee is unreservedly “accommodating the concurrent police examination.” The bank Woori has pledged to put through an in-depth audit and reexamine the security policy concerting the incident. The bank’s Woori spokesperson communicated, “We are going to identify the problems through a meticulous inspection and prevent the repetition of such cases.” The bank is also in the process of preparing a compensation claim from the employee for the money that was embezzled.
Rise in Crypto Crimes in South Korea
The past year has given rise to a remarkable increase of cryptocurrency theft in South Korea. The nation’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) in February published an article illustrating this perspective. They managed to notice 16,076 dubious transactions within a year. The FIU of South Korea estimates that these difficult situations have been responsible for an almost 49% increase since the start of this year. In the light of the recent negative trend in crime involving cryptocurrency, South Korea is now considering the establishment of a special investigative group that would address the problem.
