Taipei prosecutors yesterday listed an employee of Bank SinoPac (永豐銀行) as the suspect in a probe into theft from the personal accounts of clients.
Yu Chao-shu (游朝旭), a personal financial adviser at a Taipei branch of the bank, allegedly stole millions of New Taiwan dollars from a dozen clients, prosecutors said.
Yu faces charges of offenses of work-related misappropriation and restrictions were placed on his movements, including having to remain at his own residence, to prevent him from fleeing the country, they said.
Five years ago, Yu allegedly began accessing accounts under the pretense of purchasing certificates of deposit and insurance policies on behalf of clients, they said.
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said it has demanded that Bank SinoPac fully review its management personnel.
The bank has to explain why its financial consultants could transfer the money from clients’ accounts and how many people have been affected, the commission told a news conference in New Taipei City.
Neither the commission nor the bank has revealed the exact amount that is missing.
The bank said in a statement that it has suspended You, adding that it has reported the event to the commission and would cooperate with the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
FSC officials said such incidents have been on the rise, with eight similar reports this year that have seen banks fined a combined NT$51 million (US$1.63 million), up from four cases and NT$44 million in fines in the same period last year.
Eighteen such cases have been reported since 2015, with NT$90 million in fines handed out, FSC data showed.
New Power Party Legislator Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) accused Bank SinoPac of attempting to cover up the case and said it had “shoddy internal management.”
This sort of theft keeps happening, which is “a slap in the face for FSC Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄),” who has demanded tighter regulatory control by banks, Huang said.
In May, Hua Nan Bank (華南銀行) assistant manager Chang Hsiu-mi (張秀米) faced the charges over illegal transfers from clients’ accounts of about NT$150 million over 14 years.
Chang is in detention, pending the ongoing investigation, as she worked for many years as the manager of financial portfolios for VIP clients at the bank’s two branches in Taipei.
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