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Prosecutors, who are investigating suspicions of illegal overseas remittances of large amounts, have arrested and investigated a former branch manager of Woori Bank.
It is the first time that a bank official has been involved in a suspicious overseas remittance exceeding 9 trillion won in the entire financial sector.
Reporter Ahn Hee-jae reports.
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Prosecutors and investigators of the Daegu District Prosecutors' Office stormed the headquarters of Woori Bank in Seoul.
A former branch manager who was involved in the suspicion of large-scale illegal overseas remittances was seized and searched.
As a result of SBS coverage, the prosecution found that Mr. A was involved in the illegal remittance process and executed an arrest warrant for violating the banking law.
It is known that Mr. A is also accused of notifying the company when the prosecution, who caught the abnormal transaction situation, requested related information from the bank.
There have been times when business operators who made illegal remittances with false documents as if they were imported goods were arrested, but this is the first time that the involvement of a bank insider has been revealed.
Earlier, the financial authorities discovered that the amount of 'suspicious funds' that went overseas through Korean banks, including Woori and Shinhan Bank, exceeded $6.5 billion.
Based on today's (22nd) exchange rate, it is over 9 trillion won.
It is a method of going from a domestic virtual asset exchange to a trading company's account and then using the name of the transaction amount, etc., but the authorities judge that it was aimed at the 'kimchi premium', which is traded at a higher price than foreign currencies.
Although the banking sector has avoided the investigation network for reasons such as difficulties in verifying the authenticity of the documentary evidence, the prosecution is not ruling out the possibility of another bank official's involvement due to the large amount of illegal remittances at each bank.