Prosecutors request arrest warrant for ranking financial official

SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) -- State prosecutors on Friday sought a warrant to arrest a high-ranking financial official over allegations that he received bribes from a financially troubled bank in return for helping thwart audits into the bank's illegalities.
Kim Gwang-soo, commissioner of the Korea Financial Intelligence Unit under the control of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), is suspected of using his influence last year to prevent Busan Savings Bank from being forced to shut down over illegal loans and other financial wrongdoings.
Kim, who was then working for the ruling Grand National Party, allegedly received about 40 million won (US$37,088) in kickbacks from the now-suspended bank, prosecutors said, citing testimonies by bank officials.
The 54-year-old official is also suspected of helping the bank take over two smaller savings banks and open an office in the capital area when he was the chief of the financial service bureau of the FSC between 2008 and 2009, they said.
The official returned home at dawn on Friday after undergoing more than 12 hours of intensive questioning at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in southern Seoul.
Prosecutors have been investigating the Busan-based bank since it was suspended for capital shortages along with several other savings banks in February.
Last month, the prosecution indicted executives and large shareholders of Busan Savings Bank for allegedly causing about 7 trillion won in losses to the company through illegal loans, accounting fraud, embezzlement and other wrongdoings.
Prosecutors later said they found that part of the illegal loans were used to lobby influential government officials and politicians over the bank's fate.
sshim@yna.co.kr
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