SEOUL, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- The head of a South Korean savings bank raided in an alleged corruption scandal apparently jumped to his death from a building Friday, police said.
Jeong Gu-Haeng, president of Jeil 2 Savings Bank, was found dead beneath his sixth-floor office at the bank's downtown Seoul headquarters, a police spokesman told The New York Times.
Jeong's bank is one of seven that have been raided in a corruption scandal in which prosecutors are seeking to arrest a former aide to President Lee Myung-bak, the Times said.
Yonhap reported capital shortages prompted regulators last week to suspend operation of the seven banks for six months, which in turn led to massive deposit withdrawals and protests by depositors worried about losing savings.
Prosecutors were searching the banks for evidence of possible irregularities by their executives and large shareholders, including excessive loan extensions and bribery.
The former Lee aide, Kim Du-woo, was being sought on charges of accepting a costly golf set and other bribes from a lobbyist for a savings banks whose operation was suspended this year, the Times said. Kim, who denied the charges, had been a Lee public relations aide before quitting last week. He has been interviewed by prosecutors since then, the newspaper reported.
