Woori Financial Group's former chairman Son Tae-seung's arrest warrant for 'unfair loans' dismissed

An arrest warrant for Sohn Tae-seung, former chairman of Woori Financial Group, who is suspected of unfairly lending about 40 billion won to relatives and others, has been rejected.

The Seoul Southern District Court today (26th) rejected an arrest warrant for Sohn, who is suspected of breach of trust under the Specific Economic Crime Aggravated Punishment Act, saying there is room to dispute whether he is complicit or involved in the crime and needs to guarantee his right to defend himself.

The court also explained that it is not possible to conclude that there is a risk of removing or running away from evidence just because some of Sohn's statements appear false or have eliminated past evidence.Former chairman

Son is accused of intervening in Woori Bank's illegal lending of more than 40 billion won to a corporation related to his relatives from April 2020 to January this year.

The prosecution believes that the loan is likely to have been made under former chairman Sohn's direction or acquiescence, but former chairman Sohn denied both charges in the previous two summonses.

In addition, the prosecution believes that current management, including Woori Bank President Cho Byung-kyu, did not immediately report to the financial authorities even though they were aware of unfair loans, and bank president Cho recently switched to a suspect.

So far, a total of three people have been handed over to trial in connection with the case, including former chairman Sohn's brother-in-law and former head of Woori Bank's headquarters.