Police are reportedly investigating an employee of SC First Bank on suspicion of embezzling hundreds of millions of won in customer money.
While an internal investigation by the police and the Financial Supervisory Service has been underway since late 2017, SC First Bank said to a media outlet on Aug. 6 that its internal staff embezzled 370 million won in customer money and the bank is cooperating with the police on the investigation.
On July 31, KBS reported that a private asset manager affiliated with SC First Bank allegedly offered fake investment products to his client, B, and stole 370 million won of the investment.
The victim posted a message to the people's petition on Aug. 1 under the title "Please find my money as soon as possible by thoroughly investigating the bank's headquarters."
"Even though a bank teller in Korea fled the country after committing fraud, the bank refuses to take responsibility for the case," B said in the petition.
"How can citizens trust the bank's headquarters and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) that acquiesces in it?"
The controversy over the issue was the SC First Bank's attitude toward B. When B asked about the matter to a bank employee at the time, he reportedly made remarks such as "Aren't you stupid?" and "Korean people do not suffer from such a thing."
The bank staff also accused B of "If you often call someone who works, the work will be delayed further," KBS reported.
"It's hard to officially confirm 'Yes or No' since the remarks are what the customer claim and they are not even recorded," an official at SC First Bank said. "We apologized for the inconvenience."
Regarding the bank`s failure to know the incident until B informed the bank of the damage, the bank said, "We will gradually identify the case and improve the system."
Currently, B sued the bank staff for embezzlement and forgery of private documents on business. Currently, the staff is reportedly staying in Vietnam. Police are investigating acquaintances around the man and are considering issuing an arrest warrant.
