The nation’s top financial regulator ordered Hana Bank to punish 28 employees for irregularities including embezzlement of gift certificates, mishandling of project financing loans and violation of board rules.

The Financial Supervisory Service also slapped Hana Bank with 37.5 million won ($32,000) in fines and issued a warning against it on Thursday.

Hana Bank employees were found to have fabricated papers to embezzle gift cards worth some 17.4 billion won for three years after June 2008, the FSS said.

They also improperly handled credit evaluations for project-financing loans, incurring some 151 billion won in losses.

The bank’s board of directors approved a granting of credit worth some 710 billion won to people in special relations to the major shareholder when the number of directors present did not meet the required quorum.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)