Suspected of Giving Favors to Executives’ Children
Two former heads of the personnel department of Shinhan Bank were arrested on suspicion of giving favors to the children of the bank’s former and incumbent executives in the hiring process.
Yang Chul-han, chief judge at the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutor's Office issued an arrest warrant against Ahn and Kim, former personnel managers of Shinhan Bank, saying, "There is a risk of escape."
However, for the other two personnel officials, Yun and Kim, a former vice president in charge of human resources and a former head of the recruitment team, respectively, the arrest warrant was rejected.
Regarding Yun, Chief Judge Yang said, "There are considerable explanatory materials regarding his suspected wrongdoing, but there is room for controversy over the degree of his involvement. It is necessary to guarantee the suspects’ right to defense and there is no fear of fleeing and destruction of evidence."
Regarding Kim, the chief justice said, "Although there are considerable explanatory materials about his suspected wrongdoing, his role seems relatively limited in light of his position and responsibilities. There is no need to arrest him for fear of fleeing and destruction of evidence."
Earlier, the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutor's Office requested arrest warrants for four people, including Yoon, on suspicion of business interruption using hierarchy and violation of the Gender Equality Employment Act.
In the process of hiring new Shinhan Bank employees since 2013, they are accused of giving preferential treatment to children of influential individuals, including executives of Shinhan Financial Group, officials of the Financial Supervisory Service, owners of local media companies, and former senior bureaucrats. They are said to have received referrals from former and current top management, including Rah Eung-chan, former chairman of Shinhan Financial Group.
Some of the children of Shinhan Bank executives were found to have passed the final examination even though they did not pass the document screening due to low grades or received the lowest grades in the job interviews.
The prosecution is considering when to summon Cho Yong-byoung, the current chairman of Shinhan Financial Group who was the bank’s president at the time of recruitment irregularities.
Previously, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) referred about 10 cases of Shinhan Bank's employment irregularities to the prosecution for investigation, but the prosecution thinks dozens of people are involved in the recruitment irregularities.