Korean Bank Employee Embezzles 10 Billion KRW for Cryptocurrency Trading Incurs Over 50 Losses

According to South Korean media Hanguk Kyungjae, a Yuil Bank employee suspected of embezzling around 10 billion Korean won since the beginning of this year has surrendered to the police, stating that the funds were invested in cryptocurrencies and incurred losses of over 50%.
The West Sea Police Station in South Korea recently revealed that the loan monitoring department of Yuil Bank discovered abnormal signs in the monitoring system during the loan process and requested the employee to explain. The employee, in his 30s, voluntarily went to the police station on the 10th and confessed to the details of the crime. He worked at a branch of Yuil Bank and began embezzling loan funds through forged loan applications, deposit-related documents, and other methods since the beginning of the year, with the embezzled funds amounting to around 10 billion Korean won (approximately 7.25 million USD).
During the investigation, he admitted that he had invested the embezzled funds in cryptocurrencies and incurred losses of approximately 6 billion Korean won (approximately 4.35 million USD) due to investment failures.
Yuil Bank plans to claim damages against the employee and will further strengthen internal audit and monitoring process checks.
A Yuil Bank official stated: “Through a thorough investigation, we will identify the loopholes in the loan execution process to prevent similar incidents from happening again. At the same time, we will impose serious penalties on the employees involved and enhance the internal control awareness of all employees.”
South Korea has always had a strong culture of trading cryptocurrencies. Previously, statistics showed that the trading volume of the top five cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea was close to surpassing the stock trading market.
However, according to the Financial Services Commission of South Korea, cryptocurrency investors in South Korea are still mainly retail investors and small investors, with up to 4.55 million people classified as small investors holding only less than $734 worth of cryptocurrencies.