South Korean prosecutors are dropping their case against KEB Hana Bank for offering preferential loans to the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, the confidante of former President Park Geun-hye, The Korea Herald reported March 5, citing local daily Money Today.
The prosecutors decided not to indict the bank over its loans to Chung Yoo-ra as they believe the bank did not fail in its duty to verify Chung's status as a non-resident, a source told Money Today. KEB Hana Bank had issued a standby letter of credit worth €386,600 to Chung in 2014 but reportedly exempted her from submitting requirements such as proof of obtaining offshore real estate loans. Chung had put up a piece of land in South Korea as collateral in 2015 and then took out loans in the bank's branch in Germany.
Prosecutors decided to drop their case as documents from the Bank of Korea and a copy of the document from Chung's office in Germany could be seen as proof that Chung was a non-resident. Chung is the daughter of Choi Soon-sil, a longtime confidante of the former president who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in connection with a corruption scandal that led to her impeachment in 2017.
