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South Korean bank staff siphons $7.5 million to invest in cryptocurrencies
An employee of South Korea’s Woori Bank confessed to police that he embezzled $7.3 million from the bank to finance personal cryptocurrency investments, most of which failed.
According to reports from local news storesThe unnamed employee visited the West Gimhae Police Station in South Gyeongsang Province on June 10 to reveal the extent of their crimes.
Investigators revealed that the 30-year-old employee had invested the stolen funds in cryptocurrency-related ventures, seeking personal gain.
Unfortunately, however, most of these investments failed, causing him to lose $4.35 million from the stolen money.
In response to these revelations, the responsible South Korean police intensified their investigation into the theft. They are collecting further data in collaboration with Woori Bank and are expected to apply for an arrest warrant soon.
Meanwhile, the bank detected the loss of funds through its internal monitoring systems even before the employee’s confession. The stolen money was reportedly diverted from accounts related to the lending operations.
A police spokesperson said the employee was “cooperating fully with the ongoing police investigation”.
Woori Bank promised to conduct a thorough audit and review its internal control measures following the security incident.
A spokesperson for Woori Bank said:
“We will identify the problems through a thorough investigation and prevent similar cases from happening again.”
The bank also intends to ask the employee for compensation for the stolen funds.
Over the past year, South Korea has seen a notable increase in crimes related to cryptocurrencies. According to a Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) report in February, the watchdog identified 16,076 suspicious transactions.
The FIU reported that the incidence of these crimes has increased by 48.8% since 2022.
In response to the latest wave of cryptocurrency-related crimes, South Korean authorities are considering the idea creation of a dedicated investigative unit to face them.