The scale of financial accidents such as fraud, embezzlement, and breach of trust has topped 1 trillion won over the past six years or so, an analysis found.
According to data submitted by People Power Party lawmaker Kang Min-guk of the National Policy Committee to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 25th, the amount of financial accidents that occurred from 2020 to April this year totaled 1.241931 trillion won (609 cases).
By year, it gradually increased from 17.245 billion won (76 cases) in 2020 to 73.193 billion won (60 cases) in 2021, 149.692 billion won (61 cases) in 2022, 142.32 billion won (62 cases) in 2023, 353.671 billion won (112 cases) in 2024, and 431.897 billion won (188 cases) last year. Except for 2023, the accident amounts rose every year, with last year marking an all-time high.
This year, too, financial accidents have continued frequently. From Jan. to Apr., financial accidents amounted to 73.913 billion won across 50 cases, occurring once every 2.4 days. By type, financial fraud has surged recently. Financial fraud was the most common at 505.282 billion won (253 cases), accounting for 40.7% of all accidents. It was followed by occupational breach of trust (291.193 billion won, 80 cases), embezzlement and misappropriation (205.19 billion won, 208 cases), and theft and loss (1.05 billion won, 14 cases).
In the case of financial fraud, it jumped from 55.8 billion won (32 cases) in 2024 to 331.803 billion won (113 cases) last year. Many occurred in the banking sector, with numerous scams using inflated collateral values or falsified documents such as sham lease contracts.
By sector, banks accounted for 769.764 billion won (381 cases), more than half (62%) of all accidents. They were followed by securities (262.29 billion won, 62 cases), cards (108.068 billion won, 32 cases), savings banks (81.243 billion won, 55 cases), non-life insurance (11.255 billion won, 38 cases), and life insurance (9.311 billion won, 41 cases).