Bank Employee Who Stole Millions to Buy Crypto Jailed for 15 Years in S Korea

A South Korean bank employee who stole some $12.4 million from his employer to spend on private crypto purchases has been jailed for 15 years.

The media outlet Jose Ilbo reported that the unnamed former Woori Bank employee forged loan documents as part of a plan to siphon money out of the bank and into his own accounts.

Bank Employee Forged Load Documents to Fund Crypto Buying Spree

Prosecution officials told a branch of the Changwon District Court that the employee’s crypto investments ended in failure.

Prosecutors told the court that the employee had “lost about [$4.35 million]” in a series of “failed investments.”

The court also ordered the employee – aged in his 30s – to pay the bank 10.52 billion won (over $7.3 million) in damages.

Prosecution officials had asked the court to jail the ex-banker for 20 years. They said the man “forged false loan documents in the names of 17 customers.”

The defendant was tried on fraud charges and violations of an act on “Specific Economic Crimes.”

The court heard that the ex-staff member duped his employer “35 times” from July 2023 to May 2024.

He used the names of both individuals and companies to “apply for loans.” He then “embezzled the money into acquaintances’ accounts,” the court heard.

The money was then transferred from the acquaintances’ accounts into his own.

The court also heard that the man contacted the bank’s customers to tell them he was “temporarily withdrawing loan funds” as part of his criminal efforts.

Staffer Spent $10.4 Million on Crypto

Prosecution officials told the court the man “used approximately 15 billion won (over $10.4 million)” of the money he stole to buy crypto.

He used the remainder to pay off his own loans. He also used the cash to pay for “accommodation and living expenses.”

Bailiffs confiscated around $3 million worth of assets. But the court said that at least $4 million worth of the stolen money was now “virtually irrecoverable.”

The defendant’s lawyer asked the court for clemency. The lawyer asked the court to take into account the fact that “Woori Bank was also responsible for its poor management and supervision.”

The defense team also asked the court to consider the fact that the man had also “voluntarily” turned himself in at a police station.

However, the court stated that the defendant had “betrayed the people who trusted him.”

The presiding judge also noted that the defendant’s actions had had “a significant negative impact on the market trust” in Woori Bank and “its employees.”

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