97 People Caught Embezzling 300 Million Won in Fuel Subsidies

Conspiracy in Fraudulent Benefits by Truck Owners and Gas Station Operators, Violation of Fraud and Freight Transport Business Act

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The Korea Petroleum Management Service, in collaboration with the Intelligent Crime Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency, has uncovered 97 truck owners and gas station operators who fraudulently received approximately 300 million KRW in fuel subsidy payments for freight vehicles.

According to the Petroleum Management Service on the 12th, these individuals committed the offenses from January 2018 to June of last year at two gas stations located in Yeoju-si and Pyeongtaek-si, Gyeonggi-do.

They purchased fuel and fuel additives for personal passenger cars but paid using freight vehicle fuel purchase cards. They also sometimes refueled on credit without immediate payment. Through these actions, they received about 300 million KRW in fuel subsidies from the government.

The Petroleum Management Service, together with the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency, conducted approximately 10 months of investigations including data analysis, on-site surveillance, evidence collection of false payments, and search and seizure operations targeting businesses showing suspicious signs, uncovering the truth.

The Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency has referred 97 suspects to the prosecution with charges of fraud and violations of the Freight Vehicle Transportation Business Act.

This achievement was made possible thanks to real-time sharing and analysis of data between the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport’s fuel subsidy payment records and the Petroleum Management Service’s subsidy reporting system.

The freight vehicle fuel subsidy system reimburses a portion of fuel taxes to small-scale truck owners. According to the Petroleum Management Service, some gas stations and recipients colluded to make false payments, resulting in an estimated annual leakage of about 1.8 trillion KRW as of 2018.

Since establishing a collaborative system on October 23, 2018, the Petroleum Management Service, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and local governments have been sharing information and conducting joint on-site inspections.

Son Juseok, Director of the Petroleum Management Service, stated, "The synergy effect was achieved through real-time information sharing between the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Petroleum Management Service, cooperation with investigative agencies, and the Service’s expertise in on-site inspections. We will continue to do our best to prevent illegal activities in the petroleum market that undermine the rights and interests of the public."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.