Seoul City Files Charges Against Petroleum Sellers for Illegal Modification and Sale of Fuel Dispensers... Referred to Prosecution

Installed Manipulation Device on Fuel Dispenser to Falsify Fuel Volume... Sold 9% Less Fuel in 65 Transactions
Fled 210km to Hongseong, Chungnam with Fake Oil Loaded, Detected After 3-Hour Pursuit by Fuel Attendant

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government's Civil Affairs Police Unit and the Korea Petroleum Management Service Northern Metropolitan Headquarters announced on the 11th that they jointly inspected 36 gas stations and general sales outlets until April and booked three individuals, including those selling petroleum in short quantities.

The representative of the petroleum sales business caught, Mr. A, illegally modified fuel dispensers and sold petroleum in short quantities for seven months. The representative Mr. B and employee Mr. C of a general sales outlet are suspected of manufacturing and storing fake petroleum in a mobile fuel truck.

After receiving a tip that petroleum was being sold in short quantities using illegally modified fuel dispensers, the Seoul Civil Affairs Unit and Northern Headquarters conducted several stakeouts and tracking operations to secure the crime scene. They raided and caught Mr. A in the act of selling petroleum in short quantities by manipulating a valve device attached to the fuel dispenser.

Even after being caught, Mr. A showed meticulous efforts to conceal the crime by supplying additional petroleum products to consumers (victims) to avoid punishment and coercing them to give false statements that "petroleum was supplied normally."

Investigation results confirmed that Mr. A illegally installed a device on the mobile fuel truck's dispenser that recovered part of the fuel volume. Over seven months, he sold a total of 16,155 liters of diesel fuel 65 times mainly to building generators and forklifts, recovering 1,454 liters (9% of the fuel volume) back into the storage tank, thereby embezzling 1.8 million KRW in unfair profits. As the sales of his petroleum sales business declined, he targeted consumers purchasing large quantities of fuel (over 500 liters), whose exact fuel volume was difficult to verify, for monetary gain.

Mr. A, the representative of the petroleum sales business who sold petroleum in short quantities and modified the mobile fuel truck for such sales, faces up to two years imprisonment or a fine of up to 50 million KRW under the Petroleum and Petroleum Substitute Fuel Business Act. The petroleum sales business he operated has been closed by administrative disposition from the local district office.

Additionally, the Seoul Civil Affairs Unit and Northern Headquarters tracked a mobile fuel truck that fled after refusing petroleum quality inspection all the way to Hongseong County, Chungnam Province, and discovered fake petroleum stored inside. Mr. C, a driver of the mobile fuel truck and employee of a general sales outlet, manufactured fake petroleum by mixing diesel and kerosene supplied from petroleum sales businesses in Seoul and transported it using the mobile fuel truck.

Mr. C notably refused the quality inspection request for the loaded fake petroleum products by the Seoul Civil Affairs Unit and Northern Headquarters and fled. After about three hours of pursuit (from Seoul petroleum sales business to Hongseong County, Chungnam, 210 km), they discovered 1,500 liters of fake petroleum mixed with about 85% kerosene in the vehicle's storage tank and confiscated it all.

The Seoul Civil Affairs Unit booked mobile fuel truck fueler Mr. C and the representative Mr. B of the general sales outlet to which Mr. C belongs for violating the Petroleum and Petroleum Substitute Fuel Business Act and is investigating the distribution route of the fake petroleum and any additional criminal acts.

Chief Investigator Choi Han-cheol of the Civil Investigation Division 1 said, "While illegal acts at gas stations are decreasing due to continuous crackdowns by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Petroleum Management Service and reports from citizens, illegal distribution activities using mobile fuel trucks have not been eradicated. We ask citizens for active reporting to help eliminate these crimes."

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