NH Bank Staffer Who ‘Stole Money to Buy Crypto’ Says: ‘I Lost Everything’

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A former loans manager at South Korea’s NH Bank (NongHyup) who has been accused of stealing company funds to buy crypto says they “lost everything.”

Per the broadcaster JTBC, NH thinks that a manager surnamed Kim embezzled a total of $12.5 million worth of loans.

The bank found evidence of irregularities during an audit in August this year. NH reportedly thinks Kim stole money “on 106 occasions over four years,” from “June 2020 to August 2024.”

JTBC said it had seen the audit, commissioned by NH headquarters, detailing “a suspicious flow of loans at a branch” in the capital Seoul.

The internal audit also concluded that a loan worth over $7.3 million won “had been made using non-existent real estate as collateral.”

Kim reportedly arranged the loans using the names of “acquaintances and other people.” And Kim was quoted as stating:

“I took out loans using non-existent real estate as collateral. I invested in crypto. But I lost everything, so I don’t have any money.”

The media outlet said Kim secured loans by “forging documents,” including creating “bogus real estate registry certificates.”

NH Bank has reportedly already determined that $8.8 million of the $12.5 million total was embezzled using “illegal lending” methods.

The bank said its probe is still underway and added that it is “currently investigating more” of its “employees.”

“We will resolve all problematic issues involved in this case. We will continue to improve our system to prevent a recurrence.”

The media outlet noted that a decade ago, NH launched a network of roving