State-run Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-sure) and six local lenders reached an out-of-court settlement to share the bill from a fraud loan scandal involving home appliance startup Moneual Inc.

According to multiple sources from the financial industry on Monday, K-sure held a management committee meeting and decided to accept the mediation outline from the court. Six banks - Korea Development Bank, Industrial Bank of Korea, KB Kookmin Bank, KEB Hana Bank, NH Nonghyup Bank, and Suhyup Bank - also accepted the arbitration proposed by the Seoul High Court.

The court recommended the state entity to take up half of the cost in the default of export financing to the venture company.

Korea’s mid-size home appliance firm Moneual that manufactures robot vacuum cleaners and home theatre computers filed for court receivership in October, 2014 and went bankrupt after failing to pay export bills to lenders. The company’s chief executive was sentenced to 15 years in prison for receiving illegal loans worth 3.4 trillion won ($3 billion) from banks by cooking shipping bills of home theatre computers and selling bonds backed by questionable receivables.

The lenders sued K-sure for denying their damage claims in insurance guarantees.

By Lee Seung-yoon and Lee Eun-joo

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