The scandal of embezzlement of 60 billion won by Woori Bank employees is spreading. Financial authorities are starting a detailed investigation into Woori Bank’s accounting firm, and other banks are also very nervous because they do not know where the sparks will go. On the 29th, the Financial Supervisory Service announced that it had begun an on-site investigation into Anjin Accounting Firm, which conducted an audit during the period when an employee of Woori Bank embezzled. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) held a meeting on the afternoon of the same day in connection with the embezzlement case of Woori Bank, presided over by Jeong Eun-bo, head of the Financial Supervisory Service, and decided to conduct an on-site investigation. This investigation by the Financial Supervisory Service is evaluated to be in effect the supervision of an accounting firm.
This was taken less than half a day after President Jung met with reporters after the meeting with the CEO of a foreign financial company held at the Millennium Hilton Hotel in Seoul on the morning of the same day and mentioned the review of the supervision of an accounting firm. Director Jeong said, “The person in charge of the audit (accountant) is required to check the time material (cash on hand), but there is a question as to why this part was overlooked during the audit. “He said.
Earlier, at Woori Bank, a deputy manager-level employee embezzled about 60 billion won over three times (2012, 2015, and 2018) for about six years from 2012. The money embezzled by this employee is a down payment from an Iranian company that Woori Bank supervised the sale of Daewoo Electronics between 2010 and 2011 and is the preferred bidder. After the contract was canceled at that time, Woori Bank managed it in a separate account. The accounting firms in charge of auditing Woori Bank are Anjin Accounting Firm (2012-2019) and Samil Accounting Corporation (2020-2021). They gave an ‘appropriate’ audit opinion in the audit report and expressed the opinion that the internal monitoring device is ‘normally operating’.
In addition, President Jung stated that he could be held liable for negligence against the bank’s internal managers who neglected internal control. He emphasized, “We need to look into why the people in charge of the internal control system were not aware of it in advance,” he said. However, he withheld an answer regarding the issue of CEO responsibility, saying, “We need to look into it further.” On the 28th, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) launched an ad hoc investigation into the embezzlement case of an employee of Woori Bank.
Banknotes are also messed up. After the private equity crisis, the situation in which employees used bank money arbitrarily was revealed, and voices for strengthening internal control are growing. An official from the financial sector said, “It was revealed that commercial banks did not know the whereabouts of the 60 billion won worth of money for 10 years, and that the employee also spent this money as his own, investing it in real estate and stocks.”
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