Bank Manager Embezzles Funds, Penguin Banknotes Pass Off Unnoticed

Unbelievable! A manager of a bank in South Korea is suspected of embezzling public funds, and put toy fake money with cartoon designs back into the vault to make up the numbers. Shockingly, it went unnoticed for two weeks!

According to am370 citing Korean media reports, a branch manager is suspected of embezzling about 70 million won (approximately RM185,875) and bought toy bills with cartoon images back online, replacing real money in the vault. It went undetected for two weeks, sparking widespread discussion.

The incident occurred in January this year at a branch of Saemaeul Geumgo in Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea. The manager took cash from the vault without authorization, then purchased 50,000-won denomination toy bills online to replace real banknotes, in an attempt to cover up the crime.

However, these fake bills were not high-quality counterfeits, but had obvious cartoon penguin patterns and looked very different from real Korean banknotes. Yet, they were mixed into the vault and managed to fool internal controls for a while.

Reportedly, since the branch was small-scale, only the manager and one other staff were on duty. The manager often took the initiative to be solely responsible for depositing cash into the vault at the end of the business day, preventing other employees from accessing the vault, thus evading internal audits and going undetected for two weeks.

It was only after another staff member noticed discrepancies between the accounts and the vault cash and reported it to the bank that the crime was uncovered. The bank then carried out an internal investigation, after which the manager voluntarily turned himself in to the police and was prosecuted by the authorities.

An employee also revealed that the senior management, who should have been held accountable for supervision, not only escaped punishment after the incident but was even promoted, sparking a scandal of shielding their own people.

In response, a Saemaeul Geumgo representative stated that the implicated manager has been dismissed and the stolen funds have all been recovered. The bank's internal investigation and related administrative processes have concluded, and the case has been handed over to the judicial authorities for legal proceedings.