Hanvit employees charged for illegal loans

The Seoul District Prosecutor¡¯s Office applied for arrest warrants for former Hanvit Bank Gwanak branch manager Shin Chang-Seop and former assistant manager Kim Young-Min on charges of illegally lending 46.6 billion won to a construction materials importer known as Park and 3 others. The prosecution is investigating whether the 2 offenders received bribes in the process of providing the loans.

There is a distinct possibility that an outsider played a part in the operation as commercial banks restrict the sizes of loans branch managers can provide to individual clients without approval from the head office. Probes will be conducted to determine how the loan recipients used the 46.6 billion won.

Apparently, during questioning by the prosecutor¡¯s office, Shin stated that Park had introduced himself as a relative of an incumbent minister at that time. However, Shin revealed that there was no pressure from outside or within the bank in relation to the loans to Park.